Archie Watson

With an increasing number of international stamps in his passport, the multiple Group winner Brave Emperor (Ire) (Sioux Nation) is fast becoming one of the most admirable horses in training. Only twice in his 16 starts has the Archie Watson-trained four-year-old ever been out of the first three, but more impressive is that 10 of those runs have ended in victory - in five different countries, and counting. On Saturday, his 2024 debut resulted in a win in the Irish Thoroughbred Marketing Cup in Qatar, a local Group 2 staged...

The multiple Group winner Brave Emperor (Ire) (Sioux Nation) will attempt to conquer another frontier with his first run in Qatar at the weekend. Having won races in Britain, France, Germany and Italy, as well as picking up prize-money and black type in Sweden, the Middleham Park Racing representative will make his four-year-old debut in Doha in the Irish Thoroughbred Marketing Cup at the Amir Sword meeting on Saturday, in a race worth more than £225,000 to the winner. Trained by Archie Watson, Brave Emperor has now won nine of...

Hollie Doyle has returned to her home country after a successful two-month stint in Japan, where she rode 13 winners from 101 mounts. The arrival of the new year means one thing: the number of winners was dialled back to zero, and the hard work behind the scenes begins again. As someone who doesn't crave the limelight, Doyle is modest, reserved, and always the ultimate professional. It is fair to say that acknowledging her success doesn't come naturally, but since 2019 she has ridden more than 100 winners in each...

Group 1 winner Bradsell (GB) (Tasleet {GB}) has been scratched from the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint by trainer Archie Watson. A winner of the King's Stand S. this term, the Victorious Racing runner was due to be ridden by Luke Morris, as his regular rider Hollie Doyle is serving a suspension. Europeans are still strongly represented in the Santa Anita affair, however, as G1 Nunthorpe S. hero Live In the Dream (Ire) (Prince Of Lir {Ire}) is still signed on, as is Aesop's Fables (Ire) (No Nay Never).

ASCOT, UK--Some of us get slower as we get older. Bradsell (GB) is getting faster. So much so that, instead of treading the more obvious three-year-old sprinter route to the Commonwealth Cup, trainer Archie Watson talked the colt's owner Shaikh Nasser Bin Hamad Al Khalifa into supplementing him for the King's Stand S., and what an inspired move that turned out to be. It takes a good horse to win at Royal Ascot once, but a proper horse to return triumphant, dropped back in trip to the minimum and with...

Bouncing back to the form which saw him win last year's G2 Coventry S., Victorious Racing's TDN Rising Star Bradsell (GB) (Tasleet {GB}--Russian Punch {GB}, by Archipenko) survived an inquiry to capture the G1 King's Stand S. to reward Archie Watson's supplementary entry. Always travelling strongly for Hollie Doyle tracking the 7-4 favourite Highfield Princess (Fr) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) throughout, the 14-1 shot mastered that mare inside the final furlong en route to a length verdict. There was significant interference for the stewards to analyse, as the winner drifted...

Bradsell (GB) (Tasleet {GB}) was the juvenile star of the opening day of Royal Ascot last year and the G2 Coventry S. winner has been supplemented to return next week in the G1 King's Stand S. for Archie Watson. "I guess Ascot's been pretty big in the storyline of my career," admits the Lambourn trainer, who also won't be short of two-year-old runners at the royal meeting in an attempt add to a record which includes the Windsor Castle S. "Soldier's Call (GB) was obviously our first big winner. I...

Minutes after freshman sire Phoenix Of Spain (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) notched his first winner at Leicester, Ballyhane Stud incumbent Soldier's Call (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) repeated the feat when Archie Watson trainee Dreadpirateroberts (Ire) (Soldier's Call {GB}--Gangster Squad {Fr}, by Astronomer Royal) graduated in Saturday's Black-A-Moor Inn Half A Mile Away EBF Restricted Novice S. at Ripon. The 85-40 favourite ran second in his Brighton debut last week and broke sharply to seize an immediate lead in this return. In command throughout, he was last to come off the...

Darley's Kildangan Stud resident Blue Point (Ire) (by Shamardal) was off the mark with his first crop on Easter Monday as Salem Rashid Bin Ghadayer's Action Point (Ire) struck at the first time of asking at Kempton for the Archie Watson stable. Confidently supported as the 11-10 favourite for the five-furlong Racing TV/EBF Restricted Novice S., the bay was quickly into stride to track the leader closely under Hollie Doyle and when committed two out stayed on strongly to score by 1 1/4 lengths from Ponga (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}). "He...

Amid much ado about the start of the turf season in Britain on Saturday, it is important not to overlook the day's second-most valuable race after the Lincoln. Chelmsford City's Woodford Reserve Cardinal Conditions S., worth a decent £100,000, is the last of seven races in the European Road to the Kentucky Derby.  Launched in 2019 by the enterprising team at the Essex track, which continues to punch well about its weight on the prize-money front, the Cardinal's three winners to date (there was no race in 2020 during the pandemic)...

Rider Hollie Doyle, who fell after her mount broke down at Wolverhampton on Monday evening, has been diagnosed with a broken elbow and will face a spell on the sidelines. A date to return to the saddle has not been set. A winner of the G1 Prix de Diane aboard Nashwa (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in 2022, the first female rider to win a Classic was riding Archie Watson's 4-7 race favourite The Perfect Crown (Ire) (Hallowed Crown {Aus}) when he broke down on the final turn. Doyle was up after...

Classic-winning jockey Hollie Doyle is set to see a specialist after sustaining an arm injury in a spill at Wolverhampton on Monday. Doyle was aboard the 4-7 favourite The Perfect Crown (Ire) (Hallowed Crown {Ire}) at Dunstall Park when her mount broke down on the final turn. She will not take up her engagements at Kempton on Tuesday. Doyle, who is the retained rider for Imad Al Sagar's Blue Diamond Stud, said, "Dr. Jerry Hill [chief medical adviser for the British Horseracing Authority] has got me in to see a...