Star British female jockey Doyle set for Melbourne Cup

Star British woman jockey Hollie Doyle is set to partner Sea King in the Melbourne Cup after the gelding booked his spot in the Flemington showpiece by cruising to victory in the Bendigo Cup.

The five-year-old was making his debut for trainer Harry Eustace in the Group Three contest, having previously raced for Sir Mark Prescott in Britain, with his 18 starts encompassing five wins and a notable sixth in the Ebor last time out.

Sea King was well supported for Wednesday's 12-furlong feature, with jockey Declan Bates riding with supreme confidence, allowing his mount to stride on round the field approaching the turn for home before pulling well clear in the straight.

Eustace said: "We now can't wait to run him in the (Melbourne) Cup, should we pass the vets' scans.

"You'd have to think he'll be competitive off the back of today's win, so it'll just be a case of whether he's classy enough to go and win it.

"Declan Bates is unfortunately not able to do the weight in the Cup, so we're lining Hollie Doyle up to take the ride, which would be a great booking.

"Based on his run today, if he can repeat that under Hollie, you'd like to think we're going there with a live chance."

The 28-year-old Doyle last month became only the second female jockey in European racing annals to ride 1000 winners.

Eustace finished fifth with Docklands in last Saturday's Cox Plate and the trainer was delighted to see travelling companion Sea King sparkle on his Australian bow.

He added: "It was very exciting to see. We felt he'd really thrived in quarantine, but you never really know how well they are until they hit the track, so we were thrilled with how dominant he was in the end at Bendigo.

"It's also a massive milestone for us as a team in winning our first Group race. It's probably taken a little longer than we'd have liked, but to have achieved it in such an important race as we plot our way to the (Melbourne) Cup is huge.

"Any international winner is a big result too, especially in Australia at the moment as it's becoming harder and harder to get horses running down here."

Regarding the all-important medical examination, Eustace said: "Sea King will now undergo new CT scans on Thursday which will determine whether we're allowed to run on Tuesday.

"He's passed them before, and he's not a younger horse like Jan Brueghel, so fingers crossed he'll pass them, and we'll be rocking and rolling on to the Cup."