Hollie Doyle blog: New whip rules not easy to adapt to but a positive step for horseracing with no grey areas | Racing News

Sky Sports Racing ambassador Hollie Doyle discusses her five rides at Newbury on Saturday as well as her reaction to the new whip rules likely to come into effect later this year.

The new whip rules revealed earlier this week are a positive step for our sport but it’s not going to be as easy as many people think to quickly adapt to a different way of race riding.

Using a whip correctly and effectively is a skill that takes years to perfect and not being able to use it in the forehand position will require a big change in technique for most of us.

I, like all of my weighing room colleagues, will have to work hard to get this right but we are all professional athletes who have pride in our profession and a love for our horses so we will get it right.

Thankfully there are no grey areas about the new rules relating to use of the whip above the permitted seven strokes on the Flat. It’s there in black and white so there should be no complaints from those picking up a suspension or even being disqualified once the changes are implemented.

Wokingham winner ready for step up in grade

Tough sprinter Rohaan couldn’t come into the Group Three bet365 Hackwood Stakes (2.56pm) over six furlongs at Newbury on Saturday in better form.

He bounced back from a spell in the doldrums in spectacular style to win the valuable Wokingham Stakes for the second time for his trainer David Evans and top jockey Ryan Moore at Royal Ascot last month.

This represents a step up in grade but Rohaan won twice in Group company last year at Ascot and Haydock so his credentials for this race can’t really be questioned.

A low draw in stall two wouldn’t be ideal for a forward runner but he’s a hold-up horse who loves to attack a strong pace so I’ll be dropping him in for what I hope will be another power-packed finish.

Weights favour Eddie’s in Super Sprint

Eddie’s Boy brings some of the best form – and one of the highest ratings – to the big two-year-old cavalry charge, the Weatherby’s Super Sprint Stakes (3.30).

Placed in both the Windsor Castle Stakes at Royal Ascot and the Listed Dragon Stakes at Sandown, his mark of 96 puts him in with an outstanding chance on these terms.

Middleham Park Racing’s colt will be getting weight from lower-rated rivals and our high draw right against the stand side rail in stall 21 could be an ideal place to be.

I’ve ridden Archie Watson’s son of Havana Grey in three of his four races so far, including his winning debut on the Southwell Tapeta, and feel that he could be even more effective on a conventional track like this one.

Course form suggests Dream can go close

My old friend Rainbow Dreamer has made his name as an All-Weather horse but I’m hoping his course form will prove an advantage in the Highclere Castle Gin Stakes (2.21).

He won over further at the Berkshire track earlier in his career and comes into this extended two miles handicap in better form than his latest figures suggest.

I thought he ran a nice race in the Northumberland Plate on the Newcastle Tapeta last month, finishing in mid-division in ninth to Trueshan on his first start since a wind operation.

The fast ground won’t be a problem to Alan King’s veteran, who has won five times for me and clearly still has more to offer at the age of nine.

Sharp Lahab will know his job

My boss Imad Alsagar’s Lahab makes his racecourse debut over six furlongs in the bet365 EBF Novice Stakes (1.15) and I’m hoping he can show up well.

I popped down to Kingsclere recently to ride Andrew Balding’s juvenile work and found him to be quite sharp. The son of US Navy Flag should know his job well enough to produce something positive in what looks an open race.

Later, I ride Morgan Fairy for William Haggas in the Lifetime In Racing Award Winner British EBF Premier Fillies’ Handicap (4.05). She wasn’t disgraced in the Sandringham at Royal Ascot but can prove more competitive back in this small field in receipt of weight from all her rivals.

Hoping Emily will sparkle in Irish Oaks

A spectacular performance from Emily Upjohn in Saturday’s Juddmonte Irish Oaks (3.45) at the Curragh would put a smile on my face as it would boost the form of my star filly Nashwa.

We finished just behind John and Thady Gosden’s star filly at Epsom, of course, en route to that wonderful victory in the French Oaks.

Emily Upjohn is clearly an outstanding filly who looks much too strong on paper for her rivals, including Ribblesdale winner Magical Lagoon who somehow needs to find more improvement to cause an upset.

Happy to reach my century so quickly

Becoming the first jockey to reach a century of winners for the year at Wolverhampton on Monday evening was very satisfying but now I have another landmark on my mind. I’m only eight domestic winners short of 700 so I’m hoping to get there in the next couple of weeks.

Getting to 100 by early July puts me on course to beat my previous best total of 172, recorded in 2021, but as usual, I’m taking nothing for granted and will be working as hard as ever to hopefully reach a new milestone later in the year.

It’s been a great few weeks, winning my first Classic on Nashwa, the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot on Bradsell and that unforgettable performance by Trueshan in the Northumberland Plate, and I’d like to think there will be more big days ahead with all three of them.

I’ve been lucky to have the support of so many different owners and trainers and I’m grateful to all of them for their loyal support.