York Thursday reflections: David Ord on the Pertemps Network Yorkshire Oaks
It was a Yorkshire Oaks of firsts – not lasts.
The first under the Pertemps Network banner and a first Aidan O’Brien-trained winner for jockey James Doyle.
His partner Warm Heart dug deep, very deep, in a desperate final furlong to fend off the attentions of Free Wind and Frankie Dettori by a head in an epic renewal.
No flying dismount or second Group One win for the Italian on his final lap at the Knavesmire, but for Doyle the gentle smile and satisfaction of a job well done.
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We’re used to seeing him in the royal blue silks of Godolphin not the pink of the Magnier-Tabor- Smith axis but it’s another quiet week for the Charlie Appleby battalion. Just two runners pencilled in for the champion trainer.
Doyle, strong in the saddle and as insightful in an interview, is used to the big stage. He's been on it from a very early stage, winning at the highest level during a stint as stable jockey to Roger Charlton.
That led to a brief spell as retained rider for Juddmonte, coinciding with the rise of Kingman and brilliant wins in the Irish 2000 Guineas, St James’s Palace Stakes and Sussex Stakes.
But since 2014 it’s been Godolphin, meaning Ballydoyle have only had sparing access to his services when they need reinforcements on this side of the Irish Sea.
Doyle himself remembered a “near miss” for the trainer in Australia and for a stride or three at the furlong pole he feared the worst again.
“Before the race Aidan said ‘try to be the last one to challenge inside the furlong pole’, but she took me down through the two and nothing could take me any further. I was just praying for the furlong pole to come and I had to go a little bit earlier, just to really focus her up," he said.
“When Frankie came at me I thought ‘here we go again’, but she was very brave, which is a quality Aidan O’Brien really trains in these horses – when you get in the guts of a battle, you like to be on them.”
O'Brien never shared those concernsl
“I knew he was doing his best whatever way it was going to fall. They’re not easy instructions and I don’t think he could have played it much later as Frankie was forcing him to go. I thought he gave her a brilliant ride really," he said.
“It looked like Frankie was going to come by her, but she found again. James was very strong on her.”
It was interesting to hear the master of Ballydoyle plot the route ahead for his two runners. Warm Heart is bound for the warm climates of California this autumn. She looks tailor-made for the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf in the opinion of a trainer who won the race with Tuesday last season.
She might head straight there – fast ground now deemed important for her. In contrast, for stablemate Savethelastdance, who emerged with plenty of credit in third on Thursday, the softer the better.
That’s why the St Leger and Arc are the two races on her radar – as they have been for some time. Only two weeks separate the pair and O’Brien feels it’s a case of one or the other.
To my eyes she screams Leger, she’d devour the extra two furlongs of that contest but you sense the ParisLongchamp showpiece has been at the back of their mind for longer.
You don’t tend to get fast ground Arcs after all and John Kettley’s gallic cousin’s bespoke long-term forecast will need to show lots of yellow circles if they’re to be blown off-course.
Big plans for the horses – a big day for the rider.
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