February, 2021 | Horse Racing Free Tips

‘I Would Hate For A Younger Jockey To Feel The Way I Did’: Hollie Doyle Felt ‘Intimidated’ By Stewards

Hollie Doyle admits she made a mistake with her whip use when riding Echo Brava in a Jan. 30 race at Kempton, leading to a six-day ban from the stewards. However, Doyle told the Racing Post that she appealed that ruling due to the way she was treated by the stewards during their inquiry.

“I'm fairly thick-skinned but I felt pretty intimidated in the inquiry,” Doyle told racingpost.com. “I was repeatedly interrupted and spoken over. I accepted I had hit the horse short unintentionally but I couldn't get a word in.

“The tone in which I was spoken to backed me into a corner and left me no way to describe the incident. That's one of the reasons I opted to appeal. I would hate for a younger jockey to feel the way I did.”

Doyle's appeal was denied on the basis that there were no extenuating circumstances that could have justified her penalty being reduced.

“We are grateful to Hollie for raising the concerns she had following her experience at Kempton,” said a spokesperson for the British Horseracing Authority. Over the past two years the BHA has developed and facilitated training for all stewards across the country on process and procedure, and while the pandemic has had an impact on that, further professional development in this regard is ongoing and planned in 2021.”

Paul Struthers, chief executive of the Professional Jockeys Association, has called for audio of Doyle's inquiry to be made public.

Racing Cancelled At Turf Paradise Monday And Tuesday Due To COVID-19 Positive

Racing and training at Turf Paradise in Phoenix, Ariz., were cancelled on Monday after an employee in the jockeys' room tested positive for COVID-19. The unidentified employee has been hospitalized, according to Vincent Francia, the track's general manager.

Francia informed horsemen via social media late Sunday that all jockeys and valets had been notified and would be required to undergo rapid testing and three-day result testing for COVID-19. The jockeys' quarters were disinfected Sunday and would be fogged with an extra strength disinfectant.

The track's starting gate crew will also be required to undergo COVID-19 testing, and horsemen and Turf Paradise staff are also advised to get tested.

Francia said Monday morning that he anticipated training would take place Tuesday but racing would again be cancelled. He believed racing would resume on Wednesday.

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Bahrain International Trophy Winner Simsir Takes On Bigger Challenge In Saudi Cup

Ground-breaking trainer Fawzi Nass is preparing an assault on the $20 million Saudi Cup with Bahrain International winner Simsir.

Nass made history at the inaugural Saudi Cup meeting last year when his Port Lions pulled off a shock win by defeating Japan's star mare Deirdre in what is now called The Neom Turf Cup, the first turf race ever held in Saudi Arabia.

Now he has the world's most valuable race in his sights with Simsir. The 5-year-old will take on some of the world's best dirt horses, including Pegasus World Cup winner Knicks Go and rising star Charlatan, in the 1800m (nine furlongs) contest on Feb. 20.

Bahrain-based Nass will also aim a three-strong challenge at the first running of the Al Rajhi Bank International Handicap on Feb. 19, the day before The Saudi Cup.

He is targeting last month's Crown Prince Cup winner New Show, as well as stablemates Desert Lion and What A Welcome, at the 2100m contest, which is open to horses trained in countries not included in the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities' Part One nations.

Nass said: “Simsir is doing well. He's had an easy time since winning the Bahrain International Trophy in November, so we thought, if we're going to go to Saudi, we needed to get a run into him. We had the Crown Prince Cup, which was a hot race over 2000m (1 1/4 miles), and he finished a close fourth. Things didn't go his way, he missed the break and he had to come from behind, which doesn't suit a galloping horse like him. He didn't disgrace himself and we're happy with that being his prep run for The Saudi Cup.

“Desert Lion, What A Welcome and New Show, the winner of the Crown Prince Cup, are all going for the Al Rajhi Bank International Handicap, which is over 2100m on the turf. I'm not sure what the competition will be like but I'm happy with them and their preparation.

“Simsir and What A Welcome will be ridden by Adrie de Vries, who won on Port Lions at the meeting last year for us, so we'll stick with the same luck. Desert Lion will hopefully be ridden by Paddy Mathers, who gets on well with him here in Bahrain, and New Show will hopefully be ridden by David Egan.”

The return to King Abdulaziz Racetrack in Riyadh will obviously bring back happy memories for Nass after last year's famous victory.

He remembered: “It was an amazing experience. We went there knowing that we had a chance to nick a place but, obviously, everyone thought Deirdre had the race done and dusted. Overall, it was an amazing day and the feeling was good.

“I think the track is second to none really – up there with the best of the turf tracks. There was an amazing cushion and cover on the grass. Knowing that they had laid it so close to the race, all the jockeys obviously loved it. It's a very, very nice turf track.

“The Saudi Cup meeting is very important, especially for us in Bahrain, as we look at Saudi Arabia as the mother country. It's always a pleasure to participate in those events in Saudi Arabia, so it would be nice if we can win another race again.”

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Tickets For Tampa Bay Derby Day Now On Sale

Tickets for Festival Day 41 Presented by Lambholm South on March 6 are now being sold on the Tampa Bay Downs website, www.tampabaydowns.com.

General Admission attendance will be capped at 2,500. Tickets are $15 plus a $2.55 service fee. Picnic Area tables sold out quickly, but a total of 100 individual Picnic Area spaces are being sold for $15 each, plus the service fee. Anyone purchasing a Picnic Area space must provide their own seating.

The General Admission and Picnic Area ticket price includes a commemorative cap.

Five stakes races will be contested on March 6, headed by the 41st running of the Grade 2, $400,000 Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby for 3-year-olds at a mile-and-a-sixteenth on the main track.

The Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby is a “Road to the Kentucky Derby” points race, awarding qualifying points for the May 1 Run for the Roses to the first four finishers on a 50-20-10-5 scale. The Oldsmar showcase has produced two Kentucky Derby winners: 2007 Tampa Bay Derby winner Street Sense and 2010 Tampa Bay Derby third-place finisher Super Saver.

Turf-loving females will also be spotlighted. The Grade 2, $225,000 Hillsborough Stakes for older fillies and mares – which has produced such top-class winners in recent years as Starship Jubilee (2020), Fourstar Crook (2018), Dickinson (2017), Tepin (2016), Stephanie's Kitten (2015) and Zagora (2012) – will be contested at a mile-and-an-eighth on the grass. The Grade 3, $200,000 Florida Oaks for 3-year-old fillies, first run on the turf in 2011, is slated for a mile-and-a-sixteenth.

Rounding out the March 6 stakes menu are the Grade 3, $100,000 Michelob Ultra Challenger Stakes for horses 4-years-old-and-upward at a mile-and-a-sixteenth on the main track and the $75,000 Columbia Stakes for 3-year-olds at a mile on the turf.

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