Hollie Doyle's star very much remains on the rise, while Lostintranslation looks the forgotten horse in the King George. Don't miss Mike Cattermole's latest column.
HOLLIE SET FOR CHAMPION TILT
Hollie Doyle will be one person who may have mixed feelings about seeing the back of 2020.
She has made a massive impression in the racing world, breaking record after record, and it has been wonderful to see it filtering through to the sporting world as a whole.
This has been some week for her. Third in the Sports Personality of the Year behind Lewis Hamilton and Jordan Henderson last Sunday, she was then rewarded with three Lesters from her peers on Tuesday on the same day that she broke through the 150 barrier in a calendar year.
Her win on Darwell Lion to get to that landmark at Lingfield was outstanding. Darwell Lion, a big raw two-year-old, was as green as grass during the first half of the race but made up his ground on the bend from a seemingly impossible position.
In spite of hanging badly left up the home straight, Hollie skilfully kept his momentum going and also kept him from hampering his two rivals on the inside, all the time maintaining her poise and balance as they drew clear.
It was a masterclass.
She became only the second jockey, after Ben Curtis, to achieve the 150 during this truncated and difficult campaign and both deserve massive credit. (Certainly, Curtis has not been given the recognition he deserves).
Many of my non-racing friends (strangely, I do have a few) were charmed by Hollie on the BBC last Sunday and now know what she looks like, what she does and how she does it.
Dare I say it, but this may be just the start for her. Weight is no issue to Hollie (she can do 8st comfortably) and she is the perfect make and shape to carry on for a long time, injury permitting. Who’s to say she can’t go on and become champion jockey and even winning the BBC’s prized gong one day?
PAISLEY PARK AND THYME HILL SET FOR LONG RIVALRY
The Long Walk was a superb race, one of the best over the jumps at Ascot for many a year.
Some have mentioned Desert Orchid and Panto Prince as a comparison but I can’t have that at all. That was a handicap over two miles, this was a championship contest at level weights over three.
Paisley Park and Thyme Hill served up a duel that reminded me of Princeful and Richard Dunwoody beating Deano’s Beeno and AP McCoy by half a length in this very race in 1998, the pair finishing with daylight behind them.
Paisley Park showed what a champion he is and confirmed from his second to Thyme Hill at Newbury that he is very much back to his best. Dare I suggest that the interference he encountered in the home straight on Saturday actually helped his cause? It allowed him to gather himself and fill his lungs for that last charge.
Some have suggested Thyme Hill went too soon. What a load of rubbish. Richard Johnson rode the perfect race on him and his anguished obscenities just after the line were all part of the sporting drama. I loved it.
Surely, in this day and age, the vast majority would not have been offended by that? The four-time champion jockey, being the class act he is however, later apologised on his Twitter account. No need.
So, it’s one-all between these two wonderful stayers. Thyme Hill, being the younger horse, could have more to come but there is no question that Paisley Park is one super tough, super stayer and, at the moment, the champion.
