James Doyle was delighted with the ride that Auxerre gave him as the pair claimed the Unibet Lincoln Handicap at Doncaster. Despite being the most inspected horse in the 19-runner field, the four-year-old made all to claim a two-and-a-quarter length voter over Kynren on Town Moor.
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The gelding dominated proceedings on the straight mile after flying out of the stalls and was never headed to land the spoils at 5/2. Breden and Beringer dead-heated for third but it was all about Carlie Appleby’s charge and Doyle feels the way his mount dealt with the situation augers well for the future.
“I didn’t want to get sucked into either side and in the early races it appeared the middle was the place to be, so I just thought I’d do it myself,” he said. “I had full confidence in the horse, the cheekpieces were on to keep him company and we knew he’d get the trip standing on his head – he proved that by galloping round to the mile-and-a-half start before I could pull him up. “He was the unknown quantity in the race and I don’t think we’ll see him in handicap company again.”
