- James Doyle was shockingly floored by French runner Lazzat after their victory
- The four-year-old unseated Doyle before wildly galloping across the Ascot track
James Doyle was shockingly floored by runner Lazzat as he celebrated their win on the final day of Royal Ascot.
Doyle claimed victory with the French four-year-old in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes to complete a double after Humidity’s win in the Chesham Stakes earlier on Saturday.
But the jockey’s celebrations were cut short after the 9-2 winner unshipped him moments after striding to victory.
Lazzat, who is trained by Jerome Reynier and part-owned by the Emir of Qatar, then set off freely around the track, wildly galloping into the distance.
Ascot staff desperately tried to chase Lazzat down but were unable to stop the four-year-old, who clearly had lots of energy left to burn.
He was eventually retrieved and led to the winner’s enclosure.
James Doyle was shockingly floored by runner Lazzat as he celebrated their win at Ascot
But his celebrations were cut short after the 9-2 winner unshipped his rider moments later
King Charles III andn Queen Camilla watched on in shock as Lazzat floored jockey James Doyle
It came just moments after they held off favourite Satono Reve by just half a length to deny a first Japanese-trained winner at Royal Ascot and seal a first French win of the 2025 meeting.
Doyle, 37, was unhurt despite being flung to the floor and laughed about it during his interview with ITV.
Speaking after his win, he said: ‘Trying to flash the sheet at him and he went around, but yeah, what can you say?
‘I can’t take any credit for this at all. Jerome and his team, they know all about him.
‘His jockey from before, his young jockey in France, did a great job bringing him through the ranks. He also rode him in Australia when he ran such a good race in the Golden Eagle. We had all bases covered and I have to say that Jerome was very confident.
‘He was saying all week: “Don’t worry about the ground, he’s fine”. We mapped the pace out and I just thought: ‘If I end up winning, I end up winning’. He [Reynier] said: “Don’t worry, he won’t stop”. It worked out perfectly.
French runner Lazzat was left to gallop across the Royal Ascot race course freely on Saturday
Lazza’t win prevented the first Japanese-trained winner at Royal Ascot and seal a French win
Lazzat was eventually retrieved and the four-year-old was led to the winner’s enclosure
‘I could feel him [Satono Reve] coming, but you won’t get a more genuine horse than this. He really pinned his ears back when he joined me and he was always going to fend it off.’
‘It does help when you get a double on the first day, you can just relax into it. If I had a pound for every time someone said to me: “That’s it, the pressure is off”… but it’s completely the opposite.
‘Especially with this horse today. I thought he was my banker of the week, which I feel a bit guilty because we only picked the horse up a couple of weeks ago and obviously I landed on him, but I have to say a huge thank you to all of the team.’
