James Doyle hopes Flora Of Bermuda’s luck is about to turn in Saturday’s Al Basti Equiworld Dubai July Cup at Newmarket.
Andrew Balding’s charge has only won two of her 15 career starts but has a host of good efforts in between, including when third in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot last month.
That was her first run for Wathnan Racing, albeit retained rider Doyle was aboard the winner Lazzat. When asked about her strike-rate on a Zoom call organised by the Jockey Club, the jockey said: “I think it’s just the way things have worked out.
“She doesn’t always seem to get the best luck in running and finds a few traffic problems, which was possibly the case at York behind Inisherin when things got a bit sticky at halfway. She is due a nice draw, somewhere in the middle would be lovely for her just to simplify things.
“She is a filly that likes to be ridden with a touch of restraint, just not too far off them. When she has been drawn out on the wings it has made it a bit difficult for her and she is definitely due a bit of luck for sure.
“Her two wins did come with ease in the ground and I’m sure one day that might help her but her last run and some of her best form have come on quick ground and she has shown herself to be very versatile, so I don’t think the ground is much of a worry. She is not a big, heavy filly and is quite light on her feet, so I don’t think it’s an issue.
“I hope she has what it takes to win a Group One. I haven’t ridden her for a while but the form she has shown in hitting the crossbar in these Group Ones gives her a chance. Whether it is in the July Cup or in other targets further down the line, we’ll have to wait and see. But she thoroughly deserves her spot in the line-up on Saturday and I am sure wherever she does finish, she’ll be somewhere thereabouts you would like to hope."
Doyle will be riding the four-year-old for the first time since she finished fourth on debut as a juvenile at Sandown in May 2023.
“I am sure she will be a bit different to the last time I sat on her. I had a good chat with Andrew about whether it was a good idea to come down but he felt she is very straightforward and there are no issues with her," he added.
“When you actually look at her profile, she has only won a Group Three in her life which is mad but if you look at her form, even last year she ran a hell of a race in the Champions Sprint at Ascot just behind Kind Of Blue when she wasn’t beaten far at all.
"She also ran a hell of a race and ran well behind Lazzat in the Maurice de Gheest, so she has run some incredible races in Group Ones and you would like to think she can pop her head in front in one of them. I am sure it was a bit frustrating for her previous owners (Bermuda Racing) and hopefully she can get that Group One on the board."
Assessing the likely opposition this weekend, Doyle added: “Charlie (Appleby) definitely threw a curveball in there when supplementing Notable Speech. I went back and watched his run in the Queen Anne – they didn’t go very fast but he certainly travelled very strongly into the race and made that move at the two-marker which you thought would see him home but his run definitely petered out a bit.
“He is always a horse that shows a decent amount of speed at home in his work so you would have to fully respect Charlie’s thought process. I think it’s a very open race. Believing didn’t get the rub of the green at Ascot and Inisherin didn’t run his race there. Symbol Of Honour hasn’t done a lot wrong but is stepping up to this level and it will be interesting to see how he copes with it.”
Doyle also partners Crimson Advocate for his retaining owners in Friday’s Tattersalls Falmouth Stakes.
She has been reinvented as a miler this term and beat Cinderella’s Dream in the Duke Of Cambridge at Royal Ascot last time, with Saturday’s partner aboard Fallen Angel in third.
Doyle said: “I rode Crimson Advocate just before I got injured (at Chelmsford in April). It’s a shame I have not had the chance to ride her on the track but I have sat on her at home and she is a beautiful filly who amazingly won the Queen Mary and is now up to a mile, which seems to be her trip. I know she was getting a bit of weight off of Cinderella’s Dream at Royal Ascot, as the whole field was, but I thought she showed a really good turn of foot off of the turn to put the race to bed with some style.
“She really seems to have taken a step forward this year. Interestingly, I was speaking to Richard Brown (racing manager to Wathnan Racing) earlier this year and he said he’d been speaking to John and Thady and they think we should try this filly over a mile. Everyone was scratching their heads a bit but that shows why John and Thady are the top firm that they are.
“At Ascot, it definitely proved the right call and it would be lovely for her to get a Group One to her name as obviously the guys will be looking to breed from her at some stage further down the line.
“You would like to think she can step up and win a Group One. James McDonald (who rode the filly at Royal Ascot), who has ridden so many Group One winners and some very, very good fillies was full of praise for Crimson Advocate and he certainly thought she has got what it takes to take the next step up. He said she was a nice, uncomplicated ride who has a very good turn of foot.
“The slight possible question mark would be a mile in a straight line on Friday as James did seem to think she enjoyed going round a turn at Ascot, which she was obviously used to from her time in the States. But she did win a Queen Mary, albeit only over five furlongs, in a straight line.”
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