James Doyle will ride Crystal Ocean in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Qipco Stakes at Ascot. Expectations were that Frankie Dettori would continue his partnership with the son of Sea The Stars after his Prince Of Wales’s Stakes success at the Royal meeting.
That victory saw him earn a mark of 127, placing the five-year-old top of Longines World’s Best Racehorse rankings. However, Dettori has instead opted to ride dual Arc champion Enable and connections have been quick to sign up Doyle to partner Sir Michael Stoute’s current star on Saturday week.
Crystal Ocean will go off three pounds heavier than Enable but Doyle may not have been available had his 2018 Derby-winning mount Masar not been retired to stud. The news was confirmed by the jockey’ agent on Wednesday morning and he will be targeting his second win in the race, having piloted fellow Stoute inmate Poet’s Word to glory in the race 12 months ago.
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