Latest news with #GredleyFamily
The Sun
13 hours ago
- Sport
- The Sun
Promising jockey Harry Davies kicked off huge ride on eve of Royal Ascot as punters warn ‘karma will come'
A PROMISING young jockey has been kicked off a huge Royal Ascot ride - as punters warned 'karma will come' for the horse's owners. Harry Davies steered East India Dock to a brilliant £87,000 success in the Chester Cup last month. 2 2 The 20-year-old has career prize money earnings of £3.7million and has banged in black-type wins for several trainers. He timed his ride on the Triumph Hurdle third to perfection when scoring on the Roodee. But he won't get the chance to repeat the feat at Ascot after being jocked off the four-year-old gelding in favour of James Doyle. Wathnan's No1 rider has stacks of experience at the Royal track so it's no surprise to see a switch-up ahead of the 2m4f Ascot Stakes on day one. And owners the Gredley family certainly aren't afraid of a late jockey switch. They famously removed Callum Shepherd from the big Derby ride on Ambiente Friendly in favour of Rab Havlin before the pair finished second to City Of Troy in 2024. Racing commentator Mike Cattermole was one of those surprised to see Davies lose the ride on the 4-1 second-favourite. He wrote on X: "Harry gave East India Dock a copybook ride around Chester, of all the tricky tracks! "He is a lovely lad and must be gutted. What an odd and pointless decision." And a punter replied: "That's really not very nice at all. Feel sorry for Harry… karma will come." Tim Gredley spoke sense when he explained the decision, though, highlighting course form counts for everything. He told the Racing Post: "James Doyle is brilliant. We've had a lot of success with him – we won the Gold Cup with him on Big Orange. "It's nothing more than that. "Harry Davies did nothing wrong at Chester and he'll still ride for us." Willie Mullins will look to kick off a Royal party at Ascot when he saddles the King and Queen's Reaching High. Ryan Moore gets the ride on the 7-2 fav, who was bred by the late Queen Elizabeth and is out of Estimate, her beloved Gold Cup winner. . Remember to gamble responsibly
Glasgow Times
01-05-2025
- Sport
- Glasgow Times
Davies hoping Wimbledon can prove a Frankel-style ace
The 20-year-old has grown up in the heartland of British racing and was embedded in Hugo Palmer's operation as a youngster when Galileo Gold won the Classic in 2016, while he was an apprentice when then boss Andrew Balding's Kameko claimed the Covid-hit 2020 edition. However, it was the Rowley Mile romp of Sir Henry Cecil's superhorse in 2011 that sticks in his mind, as Davies anticipates some butterflies when getting the leg-up for his first taste of Classic action on home soil. Frankel blitzed his rivals in the 2011 2000 Guineas (Steve Parsons/PA) Davies said: 'Frankel demolished them that day and while I was only very young (six), I can still remember sitting on the floor and watching it. At that age you don't really know much, but even then Frankel had the 'wow' factor. 'I had some great years at Andrew Balding's and was there when Kameko won the 2000 Guineas which was amazing and when I was a kid at Hugo's he had Galileo Gold, so I have quite a few memories of the race that really stand out and they are all very special. 'To have a ride in the race is amazing and it has always been a dream for me to ride in the 2000 Guineas. It will be a big day. 'I just hope it's all smooth with no excuses and he can run a nice race. It's a big thing and I have to pinch myself – it's not to be taken for granted.' He added: 'I never really get nervous before a race, but the 2000 Guineas is a whole different ball game. I have never been nervous before a race in my life but this is something I have grown up watching, so I'd like to say I will have some butterflies and if I don't I will be surprised.' Wimbledon Hawkeye completed his 2000 Guineas preparations on Thursday (John Hoy/The Jockey Club) Wimbledon Hawkeye won the Royal Lodge over the 2000 Guineas course and distance last year before chasing home Field Of Gold on his return in the Craven Stakes and his jockey is hoping there is improvement to come from the talented son of Kameko as he attempts to turn the tables on the big-race favourite. Davies continued: 'I think he can take a step forward from the Craven and hopefully he is not out of it. 'He is a horse that we are viewing to be going further with at some point so as much as this is the Guineas, it is a stepping stone to what is to come for him and he is always going to improve from this run. 'The track will suit him. He hit a little bit of a flat spot in the Craven but once he hit that rising ground, he came home nicely. I will be riding him nice and handy and making use of him. 'You just never know, it's the 2000 Guineas and you've seen wilder results. He is a horse that wants a little bit further, so hitting a flat spot – it's not about the flat spot but how you can use it. He is a very tough horse and every time you ask him, he finds a little bit more for you.' Harry Davies will don the Gredley Family silks in the 2000 Guineas (Joe Giddens/PA) Davies' weekend will also see him take the reins aboard Wimbledon Hawkeye's Owen-trained stablemates Ambiente Friendly (Jockey Club Stakes), Pellitory (King Charles II Stakes) and Trad Jazz (Pretty Polly Stakes) over the course of Newmarket's three-day Guineas meeting in a fruitful association the jockey is enjoying. He added: 'James has a growing team and is a young trainer who has really put himself on the roster of trainers that are going places. 'It is a nice link up for me. James has a lot of runners and trains all different calibres of horse. He has winners every day of the week and it's important as a jockey for the momentum to be riding winners as often as you can. 'The Crisfords, along with James, Hugo Palmer and David Menuisier, are the main four trainers I'm riding for at the minute and it is going nicely, so I will just try to keep it going on the trajectory that it is and you never know where it will take you.'
