How to ride the track: James Doyle gives the lowdown on Ascot

The floodgates opened when James Doyle rode his first Royal Ascot winner on Al Kazeem in the 2013 Prince of Wales's Stakes. By the end of that afternoon he had ridden two more, and last year's Group 1 double on Barney Roy and Big Orange took his score at the meeting to eight. Four of those wins came on the straight course and four on the round. Half of them have been at the highest level. Here he reveals how to ride the royal racecourse

You have to be careful on the straight course as they can get racing very early and it can be a long way home. It might look flat but it's stiffer than most people realise, so you have to be mindful of the fractions and play it accordingly.

I remember when I won the Duke of Cambridge on Amazing Maria three years ago we had a game plan to ride her really cold and let them all have a crack at each other, and then pick up the pieces. They didn't go that quick early, but they got racing by halfway and softened each other up.

That's one of the reasons Jamie Spencer does so well on the straight course. You often see Jamie picking up the pieces in those big handicaps.

Equally, you can win from the front, or near the front, on the right horse. When I won the Hunt Cup on Portage for Mick Halford we were in the firing line all the way, but he was a horse who stayed a mile and a quarter.

The pace and draw are both very important on the round course. It depends on the horse, but I think it's hard to make the running there, even though Big Orange made just about all in the Gold Cup.

You run downhill from the mile-and-a-quarter and mile-and-a-half starts, and they tend to go very quick until they get to Swinley Bottom, but then it's a hell of a climb, and that's when the pace steadies.

It's important to have a decent position, ideally one off the rail if you can as it can get congested on the inside from the turn. You have to be very tactically aware and try to get a smooth run into contention.

If you get stuck with a sticky draw it's all the more difficult to get the position you want.

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