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Glen Shiel

YO

  • 2021 Series win-2nd-3rd - -
  • 2021 Total prize money

  • Sire-Dam -
  • Owner
  • Trainer

Hollie Doyle understandably grabbed all the headlines after Glen Shiel had provided her with a first Group 1 triumph on QIPCO British Champions Day in 2020.

It was also a first Group 1 success for trainer Archie Watson, not to mention the horse himself.

Glen Shiel’s path to glory in the QIPCO British Champions Sprint was anything but orthodox.

He spent his first three seasons in France, trained by Andre Fabre, and raced manly over 9 or 10 furlongs.

He made his debut for  Watson as a five-year-old after ten months off in a 1m2f handicap at Chelmsford. Not obviously well-handicapped off a mark of 102, he went off at 25/1 and beat one home.

It was an inauspicious start to his career in Britain but the following month he was a fine fourth in the Balmoral Handicap, over a mile on Champions Day.

After that, he initially went back up in trip but experiments over 7f, and then 6f, unlocked hidden prowess as a sprinter.

Three wins over the trip were followed by a fine second to Dream Of Dreams in the Betfair Sprint Cup before that thrilling win in the Sprint on Champions Day, when he prevailed by a nose over Brando.

Doyle said: “This is not about me, it’s about Archie Watson, as he has campaigned this horse unbelievably. No one else would have won a Group 1 with this horse.
“It is a dream come true, a massive dream come true, especially on this horse. Everyone in the yard adores him. We got him out of Andre Fabre’s and we ran him over 10 furlongs. Archie kept stepping him back and back in trip and I am not going to lie, even I doubted it, but this is obviously the key to him.”

@ChampionsSeries