Jack Doyle cut into Paddy Young’s sizable lead in the jockey standings on Friday when he won both divisions of Monmouth Park’s $30,000 Sport of Kings maiden hurdles, taking the first with 16-to-1 Dye Fore and the second division with 9-2 Kwacha.
With his two wins, Doyle advanced to seven wins for the 2015 season, second only to Young’s 12 victories, and broke a four-way tie in the standings. Bernie Dalton took the third spot when he rode African Oil to victory in the afternoon’s third jump race, a $35,000 optional allowance hurdle.
Gil Johnston’s Dye Fore was the longest price on the board in the first division of the Sport of Kings maiden hurdle but laid close to the pace of Aheadofthecurve before taking over on the final turn.
Young, riding Clorevia Farm’s Daddy in the Dark, closed well going into the final fence but could not overtake Dye Fore, who won by a half-length. Aheadofthecurve, the 6-to-5 favorite ridden by Carol-Ann Sloan, held on well for third, 1 3/4 lengths farther back in a field of eight.
Trained by Jack Fisher, Dye Fore ran the Sport of Kings maiden hurdle in 4:26.21 on turf rated as good and paid $34.40 to win.
Check Mark Stables’ Kwacha made a strong move through the stretch of the Jersey Shore track to win the second division by 1 1/4 lengths over Oakwood Stable’s Noble Bull, a 13-to-1 longshot who had led at the last fence. Early pacesetter Hardrock Eleven held on for third, 1 1/2 lengths farther back and a neck in front of Ride Away, the 2-1 favorite who finished fourth in a field of eight.
Trained by Richard Valentine, Kwacha ran the 2 1/4-mile distance in 4:26.47 and paid $11.20 to win.