Hollie Doyle capped off a remarkable Turf season with victory on favourite Farhan in the November Handicap at Doncaster on Saturday.
Well supported in the market at 9/2, John Butler’s exciting three-year-old – who started the race as bottom weight – pulled clear to beat Calling The Wind and Sam Cooke.
Speaking in her exclusive blog before the race, Doyle told Sky Sports Racing’s Simon Mapletoft that she had a “score to settle” after finishing second on Farhan in his first start of the season at Salisbury in May.
Having filled the runners-up spot on three more occasions this year, Farhan finally went one better with a fine ride up the middle of the 23-strong field on Town Moor.
After the race, Doyle told Sky Sports Racing: “It unfurled pretty well. We jumped well from a bad draw and it’s one of the races where you have to ride tight and I fired him in there.
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“We got a nice lead through and I could have got there a bit later to be honest. He’s pricked his ears and run around in front.
“He’s very progressive. I rode him early on in his career and he was just a bit of a boy.
“John [Butler] filled me with confidence and it was a great training performance.
“Today was his day. I knew what he was capable of but in these big handicaps, you need a bit of luck and luckily I was on the best horse.
“It’s an awesome way to cap off a great year.”
Trainer Ralph Beckett continued his remarkable record in the Listed Gillies Fillies’ Stakes winning it for the fourth time in the last 12 editions of the race with Vesela.
Given a fine ride by jockey Rob Hornby, the 22/1 shot seemed to enjoy the return to a-mile-and-two-furlongs, holding off the late challenge of David Elsworth’s Something Enticing.
There was drama later on the card for Hornby who was unseated from his mount in the Listed Wentworth Stakes, Henry Candy’s Jouska.
The race went the way of 4/1 favourite King’s Lynn, for trainer Andrew Balding and jockey David Probert, beating the Kevin Ryan-trained Magical Spirit.
Another 22/1 shot went in as the William Haggas-trained Boosala landed the class two Virgin Bet Handicap one of three victories on the day for Tom Marquand, having also won with Haggas’ Hebrides and Mick Channon’s Wonderful World.