James Doyle travels to Nottingham on Wednesday, a track at which he has a 31% strike rate since the start of 2021. Read our thoughts on his quintet of rides, all of which come for different trainers, alongside 888sport‘s exclusive sign-up offer of Bet £10 and Claim £40 In Bet Bonuses.
All The Time (1.55 Nottingham)
The first of Doyle’s rides on Wednesday comes for Simon & Ed Crisford in this juvenile maiden.
ALL THE TIME will carry the colours of the Royal Ascot Racing Club and makes her debut here in time to race at that meeting should she impress. She is well-bred for two-year-old competition, being by the speedy Kodiac and out of Mistime, a mare who won over 5f and 6f for Mark Johnston in her juvenile season.
Bought for £58,000 as a yearling, it is fair to expect good things from this filly. Doyle’s record at Nottingham has already been mentioned and can only be a factor to help, while the father-and-son Crisford team are simply waiting to strike with their two-year-olds.
They may be without a win with their eight starters of that age in 2022, but half of them have finished second. It is only a matter of when, and All The Time could well prove one of their more exciting youngsters.
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All Yours (2.30 Nottingham)
A Grade 1 winner in Aintree’s 4-Y-O Juvenile Hurdle all the way back in 2015 with Paul Nicholls, ALL YOURS’s career trajectory since has been entirely downhill.
He never won again over obstacles, but experienced a renaissance on the flat for Sean Curran in 2019 as an eight-year-old, winning three times at Kempton. That same year, he had returned after over 1000 days off the track. After finishing third at Newton Abbot in September 2020, a second lengthy layoff suggested retirement had beckoned.
However, All Yours returned again, although this time it has been without any success. He is yet to get within six lengths of a winner at any trip between 1m1½f-1m6f, suggesting that ideas are running thin with him. There was just the tiniest bit of encouragement last time out at Windsor though.
In a spreadeagled field, he was seventh of 16 over 1m2f, plugging on better than some of his rivals from a mark of 69. He is down another 4lb, in line with his current freefall, but that could stop here with Doyle booked for the first time since winning on him in September 2019.
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Little Earl (3.30 Nottingham)
This looks to be one of the better races across all the cards on Wednesday. The third trainer Doyle is riding for is Robert Cowell, who has had a tricky start to 2022.
Nevertheless, one of his more promising juveniles last season was LITTLE EARL, who begins handicapping off a mark of 87 here. The son of Havana Gold was a runner-up in Listed company to future Group 1 winner Ebro River in May last year. His form may have tailed off afterwards, but there were excuses.
Group 2 company was simply too heady at Royal Ascot while he was inconvenienced early on in another 5f Listed contest at Sandown, though he still plugged on to be fourth. Stepping up to 6f did not work whatsoever at Newbury.
He has been off for nearly 11 months now, but a gelding operation could have helped him to settle and focus on the job. He could prove above this mark if recapturing his best efforts and Doyle’s presence is another vote of confidence.
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Thunder Flash (4.00 Nottingham)
Since August last year, THUNDER FLASH has run only on the all-weather. Indeed, 11 of his 18 career starts have been on such a surface.
Both his victories have come on the polytracks of Lingfield and Chelmsford and third place is the best he has managed on turf. However, those two wins were in the easiest races he has faced, while his turf runs have tended to come in more competitive handicaps.
He has never won in handicap company, but he went very close off a mark of 55 at Wolverhampton last summer. This current rating of 54 comes after three consistent mid-pack finishes where he never threatened to be involved right at the finish.
However, that could easily change here. He was fourth after 168 days off the track at Kempton two weeks ago and he has improved between his first and second starts every time he has returned from a break. That could ensure he has a chance in a field that does not look particularly deep in strength.
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Lady Caroline (4.35 Nottingham)
Doyle’s ride is for his fifth different trainer of the day. LADY CAROLINE, as it happens, will be having her first run here for Hugo Palmer as well.
The three-year-old was in the hands of Tom Dascombe as a filly last term. Apart from a low-key debut on the all-weather at Wolverhampton, she went close in three separate maiden/novice events, eventually winning the last of those at Chester.
That represented steady improvement from her, though Listed company proved beyond her at Newbury on soft ground. That was a tough assignment for one so inexperienced, especially if conditions were against her.
Nearly 60% of Palmer’s three-year-olds this season have finished in the first four, so there is every chance Lady Caroline will be fighting fit for this contest. Her mark of 84 may look lenient if having progressed.
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