Doyen baffles Bin Suroor
Saeed Bin Suroor has his fingers crossed that Doyen can bounce back to form in the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes at Newbury on Saturday.
After slamming 10 rivals in the midsummer showpiece last year, the form of the five-year-old has dipped markedly and he has been beaten on three subsequent outings.
“After the King George we took him to Ireland and then to Newmarket for the Champion Stakes and he didn’t show a lot, so we decided to give him a rest and take him back to Dubai,” Bin Suroor told At The Races.
“But he is not showing us what he was showing us last year – his condition and work is less than what it was.”
Doyen has only raced once this season, when making a belated reappearance in the Hardwicke Stakes at the Royal meeting where he finished a disappointing fifth, beaten some 14 lengths by Bandari.
Bin Suroor said: “When he was in Dubai, until three weeks before he ran at Royal Ascot at York he wasn’t showing us a lot.
“But three weeks before the race he started to work better and we thought he was a class horse who could go and run a big race.
“After the Irish race last year we thought there might have been something wrong so we took him back to the stable, but there didn’t seem to be anything wrong.
“We still can’t find anything wrong, but he is not the real Doyen.”
Godolphin also have Henry II Stakes winner Fight Your Corner and Razkalla engaged in the King George at the five-day stage.
“Fight Your Corner worked this morning and both him and Razkalla have a chance if they run, but it is a tough race with some good horses,” said Bin Suroor.
“They are both sound and healthy and have been working very well.”
Doyen landed the Group One race 12 months ago as the 11-10 favourite, but is available at 25-1 this year, with Bin Suroor believing favourite Azamour is the most likely winner.
“I think Azamour is the horse that will be difficult to beat as he is a good horse and is the best in the race,” he said.
“We still believe that Doyen has the class and hopefully he will run better.”
