NEWMARKET // Ask James Doyle the question and he does not have an answer.
It is a little over seven months ago that he was demoted from his position as the principal rider for Saeed bin Suroor both in the UAE and in Newmarket.
Doyle, 29, is one of 24 jockeys who have donned the royal blue silks in Britain this fledgling turf season.
Of those, Bin Suroor has used 16 and has yet to call on Doyle, who does not ride out at his former boss’s Stanley House stables any more.
On Saturday at Newmarket, Doyle will partner Godolphin’s Barney Roy, the second favourite for the English 2,000 Guineas who is trained by Richard Hannon — a relative newcomer to the Godolphin fold.
Bin Suroor saddles Dream Castle, beaten in to second two weeks ago by Barney Roy at Newbury, and Top Score, a dual winner at Meydan in the winter before he was slow out of the stalls before finishing 11th in the UAE Derby.
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The following day Doyle will ride Fair Eva in the 1,000 Guineas for Prince Khalid Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.
Despite Doyle’s 17 Group 1 wins, a collection that started aboard Cityscape in the 2012 Dubai Duty Free at Meydan, Doyle has never won a British Classic. Would victory this weekend help improve his status at Godolphin?
“It is a good question,” he says, as we sit down in the famous Jockey Club Rooms at Newmarket. “I don’t know the answer to that. I take it week by week and play it by ear. Saeed has had a fantastic start and it is disappointing and frustrating not to be part of that, but that is Saeed’s decision and I have to get on with it.”
Working for Bin Suroor is one of the best jobs in racing, but it also comes with high pressure. Since 2012, Frankie Dettori, Silvestre De Sousa and even Kieren Fallon have occupied the saddle and left. To show Bin Suroor holds no grudges, and that the door is always open, De Sousa has ridden for him six times in Britain this season. After his battle with depression, Fallon is now riding out morning trackwork alongside Josephine Gordon and Oisin Murphy.
Bin Suroor confirmed this week that he will continue to use the best available.
The good news for Doyle is that Barney Roy is a serious contender. Churchill, the hot favourite, has not been seen since his performance in the Dewhurst Stakes in October confirmed his status as the best two-year-old colt in Europe.
O’Brien is a dab hand at preparing colts without a prep run for the opening Classic of the European season, but Barney Roy showed in the Greenham Stakes that he has a serious engine, and a stride that devours ground.
“I didn’t really think much of beating Dream Castle at the time,” Doyle says. “At this stage last year I would have been riding Saeed’s, so it shows how things can change a bit.
“Barney Roy is a big baby. To be competitive in the Guineas he will have to improve and will have to have learnt from that run but I think he will have done.
“A mile (1,600m) will be key. I think that showed his qualities the other day — he dropped back to seven furlongs (1,400m) and handled the tempo. I think a mile will bring improvement.
“I would be so happy if Fair Eva were to win. I had a very good year riding for Juddmonte and sat on some really good horses with them. After riding her she worked really nicely and I feel she will improve stepping up for the mile. I don’t see her going further than a mile.
“I thought I would surely win a British Classic with Kingman a few years ago but I don’t really know what happened. It would mean everything to win.”
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