Spotlight on Saturday – Hollie Doyle raises the bar again

Hollie Doyle set a new record for most winners ridden by a female jockey in Britain as she steered home Brindavan at Ascot.

The 28-year-old's triumph on the Sean Woods-trained runner took her tally to 1,023 as she eclipsed Hayley Turner's record.

Doyle broke the record for the number of annual winners ridden by a female jockey in 2019 by chalking up 116 victories.

She sealed her first Royal Ascot victory on Scarlet Dragon in 2020 and claimed five victories in one meeting at Windsor the same season, achievements that helped her to the Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year award.

She was the first woman to ride a winner on British Champions Day at Ascot and the first female jockey to earn Classic success when landing the French Oaks aboard Nashwa in 2022. She also has a pair of Group-race Royal Ascot successes on Bradsell in the 2022 Coventry Stakes and the 2023 King's Stand Stakes.

"I've got to pinch myself to believe that I've done this well, so long may it continue", Doyle told Sky Sports Racing. "It's a great milestone to have reached and I'll keep kicking."

Lingfield Derby Trial Analysis

The Aidan O'Brien-trained Puppet Master justified market support to take the Lingfield Derby Trial in the hands of Ryan Moore as stablemate Stay True finished second under Richard Kingscote.

The Ballydoyle trainer enjoyed six winners across Britain and Ireland on Saturday, and would dominate again on Sunday at Leopardstown as well as having winners at Longchamp.

The handler also won the Chester Vase and the Dee Stakes with Lambourn and Mount Kilimanjaro respectively earlier in the week, as well as the Cheshire Oaks and Lingfield Oaks Trial with Minnie Hauk and Giselle, as his season took a sharp rise.

There were some raised eyebrows when Moore opted to ride Puppet Master over Stay True, the latter unbeaten after one run while Puppet Master had only won one of four races previously.

There wasn't much between the pair as they pulled clear of their rivals at Lingfield and battled it out for the prize.

Stay True showed signs of his inexperience on the way around, while Puppet Master veered off a straight line late in the race but was always just doing enough to thwart his stablemate.

With Delacroix winning the Derby Trial at Leopardstown on Sunday afternoon and Henri Matisse landing the French 2000 Guineas at Longchamp, it proved to be quite the weekend for the Ballydoyle team.

What's Next?

O'Brien is now holding a vice-like grip on the Epsom Derby market. Despite Saturday's win at Lingfield, Puppet Masters is as big as 33/1, while Sunday's impressive Leopardstown winner Delacroix features at 4/1 in the market and Chester scorer Lambourn is quoted at 14/1.

This week could see the biggest Classic clue of them all as the Dante Festival takes place at York. There, The Lion In Winter is expected to reappear on the Knavesmire as he bids to set about justifying quotes of 11/4 for the Epsom Classic on June 7th.

The Coolmore team are heavily stacked with possible star three-year-olds as the Derby countdown continues and last season's unbeaten Acomb Stakes winner is ready for his return to Yorkshire it seems.

"It's been a great week and Puppet Master and Stay True are two lovely horses," said Coolmore's Paul Smith. "They hit the line hard, so they get the trip well, and they'd have learned a lot from the race.

"The Lion In Winter is very well and did a piece of work the other day. I think Aidan and the team are very happy with him."