Hollie Doyle and Tom Marquand enjoy low-key celebrations after Champions Day success
Racing’s “golden couple”, Hollie Doyle and Tom Marquand, who both rode a double on Qipco British Champions Day at Ascot on Saturday, spent Sunday “chilling” on a rare day off.
Doyle won the Long Distance Cup on Trueshan for Alan King and followed up with her first Group One on Glen Shield in the Sprint. Marquand won the Champion Stakes on Addeybb and then fought out the finish of the last, the Balmoral Handicap, with his girlfriend ultimately coming out on top on Njord.
“It was a great day,” Doyle said. “I would have just been pleased for all the horses to run well so to ride two winners was brilliant.
“Trueshan was very impressive and to start the day like that fills you with confidence for the rest of the afternoon. I didn’t think Glen Shiel had won so it was a big shock when he was called the winner.”
She added: “It was brilliant for Tom to win the Champions Stakes, especially it being on Addeybb, a well-travelled horse who is getting better and better.”
Marquand said the scale of their feat had yet to sink in. “After racing we just got in the car and looked at each other and started laughing. It’s ridiculous really. You couldn’t have written the day any better.”
A fine weekend for British women continued on Sunday when Louisa Carberry, a trainer based in the west of France, won the Grand Steeple de Paris, the country’s biggest jump race, at Auteuil with Docteur de Ballon, an 8-1 shot. The winner, given a very patient ride by Barnard Lestrade, won by five lengths from the 7-4 favourite Figuero.
