Moore And Doyle Compete At Longines IJC On Wednesday

[Wandering Eyes]

Second in the Longines International Jockeys' Championship alongside James McDonald in 2024, Hollie Doyle is aiming to go one place at Happy Valley on Wednesday. The duo finished second to Mickael Barzalona and all three square off again in this year's edition.

Joining that trio are Ryan Moore–recently back from injury–William Buick, Joao Moreira, Rachel King and Zac Purton.

Doyle, who is currently riding on a short-term licence in Hong Kong, said, “I've got rides for trainers that I haven't ridden much for, which is good as hopefully I can build some sort of relationship if things go well.

“There's a new system in place, in which a lot of work has gone into ensuring the draw is fair and everyone has a similar spread of rides. This year it looks a pretty level playing field, where we've all got pretty strong rides.

“I've got two last-time-out winners to ride. It is quite hard to win two on the bounce in Hong Kong as it is so competitive, but the one I ride for Casper Fownes, Mr Desira, definitely looks like he is improving.

“It's crazy quite how competitive it is, there's so little between many of the runners. For quite a few meetings the biggest winning margin was little more than a length, your horse can run a great race and finish sixth and be beaten a length.

“I've ridden here for a bit now and I think I've adapted quite well. Obviously it's very different to the dynamics of British racing, it's pretty sharp and snappy and as the handicaps are so tight there's never really a dominant horse to set your sights on, so the jockeys often make the difference.

“If you ran many of the races three times over you'd probably get a different winner each time, that's what it's like out here.

“Just to be involved in this is great. I feel really lucky and privileged that the (Hong Kong) Jockey Club have asked me a few times now to do this, it's a big honour.”

Moore, a two-time winner of the IJC, said, “Everyone wants to ride here, and why wouldn't you want to be part of it?

“I've been coming here since I was 18 and I like Hong Kong. The racing is high quality, it's competitive and it's very well run.

“It's the best that this sport has to offer in that regard.”

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