<div dir="auto">Midnight Opal makes it back to back wins yesterday at Kembla Grange Racecourse <span class="x3nfvp2 x1j61x8r x1fcty0u xdj266r xhhsvwb xat24cr xgzva0m xxymvpz xlup9mm x1kky2od"><br /><br /></span></div>
<div dir="auto">The three-year-old DEEP FIELD colt was too good leading from pillar to post with a well rated ride by Jockey Ash Morgan.</div>
<div dir="auto">Jumping fair, he soon rallied and came across to take up the running on the fence and wouldn&rsquo;t be headed coming away for a 1.8 length win <span class="x3nfvp2 x1j61x8r x1fcty0u xdj266r xhhsvwb xat24cr xgzva0m xxymvpz xlup9mm x1kky2od"><br /><br /></span></div>
<div dir="auto">Congratulations to Australian Bloodstock <span style="background-color: #ffffff;">and</span> all connections on another win by your smart colt onward and upwards from here.<br /><br /></div>
<div dir="auto">As always we are grateful for everyone who is involved with and follows the stable as well as our tireless team who continue to work hard behind the scenes.<br /><br /><a href="https://racing.racingnsw.com.au/FreeFields/VideoResult.aspx?MeetDate=2023Oct07&amp;VenueCode=MTMxNTA2Mg==&amp;RaceNumber=4&amp;MeetingCategory=Professional&amp;VideoFileType=Last400m" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://racing.racingnsw.com.au/FreeFields/VideoResult.aspx?MeetDate=2023Oct07&amp;VenueCode=MTMxNTA2Mg==&amp;RaceNumber=4&amp;MeetingCategory=Professional&amp;VideoFileType=Last400m</a></div>

Doyle Racing

MIDNIGHT OPAL WINS AGAIN!

Nathan Doyle

<p style="text-align: left"><span style="color: rgb(37, 38, 43);"><strong>Source: Provincial Racing NSW, </strong></span><span><strong>JOHN CURTIS</strong></span><span style="color: rgb(37, 38, 43);"><strong><br>Photo: Bradley Photography </strong></span><br><br></p><div style="text-align: left;"><p style="text-decoration: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: left"><span>NEWCASTLE trainer Nathan Doyle’s home track double yesterday was a case of “the old and the new”.</span></p></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p style="text-decoration: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: left"><span>Doyle called on his current apprentice Liberty Smyth and former apprentice Shannen Llewellyn (who is on loan to Ciaron Maher at Warwick Farm) to continue his early season momentum, having now trained 14 winners since August 1.</span></p></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p style="text-decoration: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: left"><span>Smyth won the Midway Benchmark 64 Handicap (900m) on Emalyn ($3.10), and Llewellyn the Conditional Benchmark 68 Handicap (1300m) on stablemate Caltsar ($26).</span><br><br></p><img data-mce-id="__mcenew" src="https://cdn.prism.horse/media/d2bfda15bbcf402ba78054e95db0acf4.jpg" alt=""></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p style="text-decoration: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: left"><span>“Liberty had ridden three provincial winners previously but Emalyn was her first for Nathan,” Doyle’s racing manager David Dyson said today.</span></p></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p style="text-decoration: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: left"><span>“She is good value with her 3kg allowance, which brought Emalyn’s weight back to 54.5kg.</span></p></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p style="text-decoration: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: left"><span>“She had been trialling well, and Liberty’s claim gave Emalyn a decided 9kg advantage over topweight Valilee.”</span></p></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p style="text-decoration: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: left"><span>The weight disparity proved telling indeed.</span></p></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p style="text-decoration: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: left"><span>Wyong trainer Jake Hull’s $2.70 favorite Valilee was really gallant under his big weight after having to work hard, but couldn’t hold off his lighter-weighted rival.</span></p></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p style="text-decoration: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: left"><span>Emalyn (by Prague) is putting together a tidy record.</span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><p style="text-decoration: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: left"><span>The four-year-old mare has won twice (both at Newcastle) and been placed six times from a dozen starts.</span></p></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p style="text-decoration: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: left"><span>She is a younger half-sister to this year’s Group 3 Hawkesbury Gold Cup winner Churchill’s Choice; both raced by Kevin Hill and trained by Doyle.</span></p></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p style="text-decoration: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: left"><span>Courtesy of her Hawkesbury triumph, Churchill’s Choice is on a path toward the $3m Big Dance (1600m) at Royal Randwick on November 3.</span></p></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p style="text-decoration: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: left"><span>“Churchill’s Choice has trained on well since her excellent first-up fifth in the Group 3 Tibbie Stakes (1400m) at the Newcastle Cup carnival last month,” Dyson said.</span></p></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p style="text-decoration: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: left"><span>“She has been nominated for the $1.5m Alan Brown Stakes (1400m) at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday, and will either run there or in the Angst Stakes (1600m) at Randwick a week later.”</span><br></p><div style="text-align: left;"><p style="text-decoration: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: left"><span>Australian Bloodstock-raced Caltsar was having his second start this preparation after a first-up fourth to subsequent city winner Concrete Storm in a Benchmark 64 Handicap (1400m) at Hawkesbury on September 10.</span></p></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p style="text-decoration: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: left"><span>He carried 59.5kg then after Smyth’s 3kg claim, and dropped 1kg (after Llewellyn’s 2kg claim) yesterday going to a Benchmark 68.</span></p></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p style="text-decoration: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: left"><span>“Shannen knows Caltsar well, having won a 1350m Benchmark 64 on him on the Beaumont track on Boxing Day last year,” Dyson said.</span></p></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p style="text-decoration: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: left"><span>“She also rode him in two Provincial-Midway Championships qualifiers at Newcastle and Kembla Grange earlier this year.”</span><br><br></p><img data-mce-id="__mcenew" src="https://cdn.prism.horse/media/aafe1f2d3a6942298b7031aa36b319cb.jpg" alt=""></div></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left; text-decoration: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><p style="text-align: left"><span><br></span></p></div></div>

OLD AND NEW” FOR DOYLE’S HOME DOUBLE

<p style="text-align: left; text-decoration: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><strong>Source: Provincial Racing, John Curtis<br>Photos: Bradley Photos</strong></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br>NEWCASTLE trainer Nathan Doyle hopes to follow up a weekend city double with a home feature breakthrough at Friday’s Newcastle Cup carnival.</p><p style="text-align: left; text-decoration: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Doyle, successful with Formal and Silvanito at Rosehill Gardens last Saturday, will rely on Hawkesbury Gold Cup winner Churchill’s Choice in the Group 3 Tibbie Stakes (1400m) against her own sex.<br></p><p style="text-align: left; text-decoration: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Whilst he won the 2024 Muswellbrook Cup (1500m) – which was run at Broadmeadow – with the now retired mare Overriding in 2024, he is yet to win a “major” at Newcastle.</p><p style="text-align: left; text-decoration: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Overriding led and ran third to Terra Mater in the Tibbie the same year, and Churchill’s Choice on resumption was runner-up to another mare Tuileries in the Group 3 Newcastle Stakes (1400m) in March this year.</p><p style="text-align: left; text-decoration: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The five-year-old daughter of Churchill has raced only twice at her home track, scoring in a Midway Class 1 Handicap (1400m) in December 2024 at her second career start, and then this year’s Newcastle Stakes.</p><p style="text-align: left; text-decoration: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Regan Bayliss won the Group 3 Hawkesbury Gold Cup (1600m) on Churchill’s Choice in May, and also at her next start when runner-up to Hellsing in the Scone Cup (1600m) 13 days later.</p><p style="text-align: left; text-decoration: rgb(0, 0, 0);">“Churchill’s Choice will be our only representative in any of the Group 3 features on Friday,” Doyle’s racing manager David Dyson said this morning.</p><p style="text-align: left; text-decoration: rgb(0, 0, 0);">“Regan has been on her in both recent trials, and is looking forward to continuing his association with her.</p><p style="text-align: left; text-decoration: rgb(0, 0, 0);">“She has had two nice trials, and he was happy with how she finished off over the last 100m of her latest 1000m heat (won by Rivellino) at Gosford on August 31.”</p><p style="text-align: left; text-decoration: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Churchill’s Choice’s Hawkesbury Cup triumph earned her a ticket to the $3m Big Dance (1600m) at Royal Randwick on November 3.</p><p style="text-align: left; text-decoration: rgb(0, 0, 0);">“Nathan will map out a program to that race after the Tibbie,” Dyson said.</p><p style="text-align: left; text-decoration: rgb(0, 0, 0);">“He would like to stick to fillies and mares’ races if possible, and she has a high enough rating to be assured of starts.”</p><p style="text-align: left; text-decoration: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Churchill’s Choice’s stablemate, the Kurrinda Bloodstock-raced Hidden Motive, will kick off a new campaign in the Nick Moraitis Trophy Benchmark 88 Handicap (1100m) at Randwick on Saturday.</p><p style="text-align: left; text-decoration: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The now four-year-old hasn’t raced since finishing sixth in the Group 3 Irwin Stakes (1100m) at Morphettville in April, and won his latest trial over 1030m at Rosehill last Tuesday.</p><p style="text-align: left; text-decoration: rgb(0, 0, 0);">“Apprentice Braith Nock will ride Hidden Motive on Saturday to claim 1.5kg,” Dyson said.</p><p style="text-align: left; text-decoration: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Doyle’s Rosehill double continued his excellent start to the season; Formal and Silvanito being his 10th and 11th winners since August 1.</p><p style="text-align: left; text-decoration: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Formal received a laceration to his off foreleg in winning the Midway Benchmark 72 Handicap (1200m), and is being spelled.<br></p><img data-mce-id="__mcenew" src="https://www.prism.horse/api/public/image/0138986baaa348d98eda36ef5d8dd24d.jpg" alt=""><p style="text-align: left; text-decoration: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Australian Bloodstock-raced Silvanito’s success in the Benchmark 78 Handicap (1500m) was his fourth metropolitan success, and third for Doyle after beginning his career with now Hong Kong-based James Cummings.</p><p style="text-align: left; text-decoration: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The seven-year-old gelding has a real liking for Rosehill; his last two city victories being achieved there and he has also been placed seven times at the track. <br></p>

DOYLE CHASING HOME FEATURE IN TIBBIE STAKES

<p style="text-align: left"><strong>Source: Racing NSW, Ray Hickson<br>Photo: Bradley Photos</strong><br><br>With a Big Dance ticket already in the back pocket, trainer Nathan Doyle says the spring provides plenty of options for classy mare Churchill’s Choice beyond her return at Newcastle on Friday.</p><p style="text-align: left">The five-year-old, winner of the Hawkesbury Cup earlier this year, kicks off her campaign in the Group 3 $250,000 NZB Tibbie Stakes (1400m) and while Doyle is flush with races to pick from one race she won’t be contesting is the Epsom Handicap.</p><p style="text-align: left">Aside from not being nominated, he feels the timing isn’t right and if she does contest a big Randwick mile it’d be the $3 million Big Dance.</p><p style="text-align: left">“The Epsom is only two weeks away, if you target an Epsom most horses would be third and fourth up into their preparation,’’ Doyle said.</p><p style="text-align: left">“It will come around too quick and if I can keep her to mares grade it might be the play for her.</p><div style="color: rgb(64, 64, 64); text-align: justify;"></div><p style="text-align: left">“There’s plenty of options and I wouldn’t hesitate to take her to Melbourne either.</p><p style="text-align: left">“She can be frustrating at times, you’d say she’s quite immature mentally the way she drops the bridle.</p><p style="text-align: left">“She’s a very sound horse, lightly raced, so I think the best is ahead of her. She’s probably got a good race in her if she can hold it all together in a run and not drop the bridle.”</p><p style="text-align: left">Churchill’s Choice was runner-up in the Newcastle Stakes at the start of her autumn campaign, after the Hawkesbury Cup she ran second in the Scone Cup and was narrowly beaten in a $500,000 mares race at Eagle Farm in June.</p><p style="text-align: left">Doyle is expecting her to be a player in the finish first-up and he isn’t putting any emphasis on her two barrier trials at Gosford, saying everything is in order at home.</p><p style="text-align: left">“Her trials have probably been a bit ‘how you going’ when you look at them but around tight turning circuits is not her go,’’ he said.</p><p style="text-align: left">“I was happy the way she was through the line and after it she’s quite strong. She seems to be working well at home so we can’t fault her into her first up run.</p><p style="text-align: left">“She always runs well fresh and that’s always a bonus. She looks ready enough to go without having race fitness under her belt.”</p><p style="text-align: left">Group 2 winner Hidden Motive makes a low key return in the Nick Moraitis Trophy (1100m) at Randwick on Saturday with Doyle looking to rebuild his confidence.</p><p style="text-align: left">Last spring’s Roman Consul Stakes winner was placed in the Fireball behind Beadman when resuming in the autumn but didn’t fire in two subsequent starts including the Group 3 Irwin Stakes in Adelaide.</p><p style="text-align: left">“He’s had the three trials, he holds good condition so we thought that would benefit him first-up,’’ Doyle said.</p><p style="text-align: left">“He’s back to 88 grade and we’ll see what races we want to target with him after Saturday, that will tell the tale.</p><p style="text-align: left">“He is a Magic Millions horse, he could be hard to catch around the Gold Coast, so we have that to consider.”</p>