'Anyone who gets on board will be full of confidence' - Docklands camp seek top Australian jockeys for Queen Anne at Royal Ascot

Docklands could have a rider from Australia in the saddle when he bids to go one better than last year in the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot on Tuesday week.

Owned by Australian-based syndicate OTI Racing and trained by Harry Eustace in Newmarket, Docklands went down by two and a quarter lengths when runner up to Charyn 12 months ago and heads back to the opening race of the royal meeting after finishing a close third in Saturday's Group 3 Diomed Stakes at Epsom.

Trapped in a pocket around three furlongs from home, Docklands finished his race strongly to be beaten only three-quarters of a length by Persica. Eustace is now looking forward to returning to Ascot, a course where his stable star has never finished outside the first three in six runs over the straight mile. 

"I never like making too many excuses but I don't know if we got the luck through the race which you need at Epsom," said the trainer. "Sometimes the gaps come and in this case they didn't.

"The reason it's so frustrating is that he's put in so many good efforts over the last couple of years without winning and more than anything, for the horse, we'd love to make him a winner again. He's put in two good runs this season and we'll go back to his favourite track at Ascot now."

Docklands ran in the Cox Plate at Moonee Valley and the Champions Stakes at Flemington last year and his owners appear keen to give an Australian-based jockey the opportunity to ride him at Ascot.

Mark Zahra: could be in line for Royal Ascot rideCredit: Morgan Hancock (Getty)

"There's talk of getting a jockey over from Australia to ride Docklands but that's being discussed by the owners," said Eustace. "I imagine it would be Mark Zahra or Blake Shinn but the horse is so straightforward that anyone who gets on board at Ascot will be full of confidence he's going to run a big race. 

"I think this year's older mile division is deeper than last year, which is why we gave Epsom a roll before the Queen Anne. He's going to run his race at Ascot because he always does but is he good enough to win a Queen Anne? Probably not, but he's more than entitled to take his chance. I imagine we'll go abroad later in the season but we'll see how he runs at Ascot first."

Eustace, who started training in 2021 after spells assisting his father James and William Haggas, has already landed two races at Royal Ascot and is preparing a small but select team for next week's fixture.

"Time For Sandals goes for the Commonwealth Cup," he added. "It was a big run in second at Chantilly last time and I think if we'd have had Richard Kingscote on board or Mickael Barzalona had ridden her before, he'd have waited [longer before challenging] and it might just have changed the result, in which case we'd be going to Ascot a bit shorter in the betting. She did a good bit of work last week with Richard on board and she'll run well. 

"La Botte will go for the Britannia. He's a bit high in the ratings off 99 but he's pretty unexposed and I think the stiff mile will be right up his alley."  

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