Hollie Doyle and Nashwa surge to Nassau glory

Nashwa (6/5F) confirmed herself as one of the best fillies of her generation by running away with the Group 1 Qatar Nassau Stakes under Hollie Doyle, the first female jockey to win the 10-furlong showpiece.

Having raced in last early on, Nashwa made ground smoothly to challenge on the outside of runners in the straight before stretching away in the final furlong for an authoritative length-and-three-quarter success. Aristia (40/1) posted a career-best in second, with Lilac Road (15/2) third after meeting trouble in running.

Nashwa, who carried Doyle into the history books when winning the Prix de Diane last month, is a fifth win in the race for trainer John Gosden and his first in partnership with son Thady.

John Gosden said: “We were drawn nine and we didn’t want to get caught on the outside with daylight. We have relaxed in last and what they’ve done is suddenly pull the pace up. If you look at the fractions, they did two 14 second furlongs in the middle, which is as slow as you can go. Coming from last made it tough on her as they are quickening down the hill, but Nashwa has got the class and, when the ground levelled off, she was happier. She is versatile to do that from off the pace. I think next time we might have to put a pacemaker in.”

Hollie Doyle said: “It is pretty awesome. She gave me some feel. A change of tactics today from France, but it paid off. Nashwa is A1, you can’t fault her.

“I rode her aggressively in France because we had a good draw and I wanted to hold my position. Today, in between her work from her previous run, she now knows what she is doing, so I didn’t want to light her up and ride her from a pace angle. Mr Gosden told me to ride her that way today.

“I came down the hill with a double handful. She travels very well, but she takes a while to hit top gear. I was conscious about keeping her balanced down the hill. This is her perfect trip. She has a high cruising speed and sees it out very well. She is push button and you can ride her anywhere, which is really nice.”

It was ultimately a very commanding victory for the three year old filly. The market suggested she would be hard to beat and she proved to be just that. We look on in anticipation to see where she might end up next.