James Doyle will saddle Irish Derby runner-up Sunway in the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Qipco Stakes at Ascot on Saturday, live on Sky Sports Racing.
A Group I winner at the Critérium International last season, David Menuisier’s colt produced the best race of his three-year-old campaign so far when beating Los Angeles at the Curragh last month.
Oisin Murphy, a driver retained by co-owner Qatar Racing, has guided the son of Galiway in each of his eight career starts so far but with him set to pilot Qatar-owned Middle Earth of John and Thady Gosden in this weekend’s Group 1 race, Sunway will have a new partner.
“James Doyle will ride,” Menuisier confirmed.
“He won’t need any instructions to ride a horse, he knows his way around!”
Sunway has odds of 10/1 with William Hill, who on Tuesday morning cut odds on Ralph Beckett’s filly Bluestocking from 7/1 to 5/1. Auguste Rodin is the 5/4 favourite.
Menuisier acknowledges that his star protégé will have to raise his game if he wants to be competitive when he faces his elders for the first time, but he is happy to give it a try.
“He had a leg stretch this morning and looks A1 and in very good shape. Fingers crossed everything goes well until then he’ll go to Ascot,” he added.
“The horse ran very well in Ireland and we know that if you are a good three-year-old horse, getting 5kg in the King George is definitely a plus.
“The opposition is strong but we feel the horse is in good form and we think he could also improve on decent ground so we should definitely try to take over.”
