Horse Racing is one of the oldest sports disciplines that keeps growing, establishing many talented jockeys. Such sports remain very spectacular not only because of the horses but also because of the bright jockeys, especially women. Hollie Doyle is on the agenda. Below, we speak about Hollie’s remarkable achievements in flat horse racing, her background, and the obstacles that she overcame to become the British champion.
Early Life and Background
Hollie Doyle is a famous British jockey who competes in flat racing. She was born into a family of former jockeys, and everything around her was dedicated to horse racing. The father, Mark Doyle, and mother, Caroline, are former horse racers with an enormous baggage of experience on the track.
Hollie Dolley was taken to the Radnorshire & West Herefordshire Pony Club at the age of 9, and she became obsessed with it after her first little race. She lived around horses, having point-to-pointers and several ponies right at her home. As a result, such an environment influenced her to become a professional jockey and an inspiration to many young and talented racers.
Early Career
The training sessions began in 2013 at age 16 under David Evans’s guidance. After she used to ride ponies and finished high school in 2014, she started an apprenticeship with former champion Richard Hannon. In August 2017, she successfully participated in her first race in Billesdon Bess, and a few months later, she finished her apprenticeship and became a full-fledged professional Jockey. Next year, she suffered a facial injury losing a few teeth. However, her courage and extreme desire to get better helped her to recover in just 10 days and get back in the saddle.
Significant Early Achievements and Wins
After her first race at Upavon Fillies’ Stakes, Hollie Doyle became an apprentice and became independent. 2019 was genuinely one of the best years, and she set a new British record of 116 victories throughout the season. The previous record belongs to Josephine Gordon, which she set in 2017. In 2020, she won her first career Royal Ascot race, steering Scarlet Dragon, which had 33/1 odds.
Key Mentors and Training Experiences
Hollie Doyle had an excellent chance to start the beginnings with Richard Hannon. He is a British horse racing trainer with a famous father who is a former horse racing trainer. Both Richards, father and son, and the grandfather have tied their lives to training. Currently, he has over 200 horses in training. Richard Jr. is a winner of multiple awards from 2014 to 2024.
Major Career Milestones
Doyle is one of the most successful jockeys in flat racing. For the last seven years, she has had an excellent riding career. She has had the opportunity to ride iconic horses and has taken first place. If you are looking for the odds, check out 1xBet odds for horse racing and check them for Hollie!
Key Wins in Major Racing Events
After a successful performance at Royal Ascot, Doyle joined her first Group race and won against Dame Malliot in the Princess of Wales’s Stakes. The second race in the Group was in August 2020, when she won the flat race at Rose of Lancaster Stakes. She successfully continued her phenomenal performance in 2020 and showed incredible results. Later, she won 5 races in one day at Windsor Racecourse. By the end of the year, she had broken her previous year’s record of winning 117 times over 116 and won the Long Distance Cup on Champions Day at Ascot. At the end of her season, she finished in fourth position in the flat jockey’s championship—the highest rank for women. It’s important to remember her excellent debut in the Breeders’ Cup, having an opportunity to ride Mighty Gurkha.
In 2021, she secured five timers and had a chance to have a Classic Race in 2000 Guineas and ride Sherbet Lemon in Oaks. Having 28/1 odds, she came 9th out of 14 runners. In July, she secured her Group 1 victory at Goodwood Cup. The next month, she was banned for seven days for careless riding. This is not the last ban for her.
In the summer of 2022, Hollie was ridden Nashwa for Prix de Diane (French Oaks) at Chantilly and successfully became the first woman to win the European Group 1 Classic. By the end of the year, she finished second at the flat Jockeys Championship. This season, Hollie was going back-to-back with her Husband by the number of wins.
2023 started with a serious elbow injury and ruptured ligaments after the unfortunate race at Wolverhampton. After the two-month recovery, she returned and secured her second European Classic in Milan.
Notable Horses Ridden by Doyle
Hollie had the opportunity to ride various horses. For instance, her biggest wins were accomplished by riding Nashwa, Trueshan, Bradsell, and The Platinum Queen. They brought her the win at Falmouth Stakes (2023), Goodwood Cup (2021), King’s Stand Stakes (2023), and Nassau Stakes (2022), Prix du Cadran, Prix de Diane, Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp.
Riding Style and Strengths
Doyle is one of the hardest-working horse riders among flat racers. From a young age, she has been practicing new riding techniques and trying out various horses. Probably, her biggest strength is an extreme love of horses. Once she said that if she hadn’t become a jockey, she would still have done something with horses. The combination of such passion and England’s amazing racing courts with hundreds of horses allowed her to gain experience and show outstanding performance on the racing tracks.
Challenges and Achievements
Although Hollie is a miniature girl, she is tough. Her career path has never been easy, as she had to face many bad injuries, including broken bones, knocked-out teeth, and fractured elbows. However, her strong desire to come back on track and set new world records was a real driver for her quick recovery. Moreover, consider the emotional pressure of being one of the youngest female jockeys riding on one track with male jockeys on the equal. Many sports challenges followed her throughout the sports journey, but Doyle kept battling the adversity.
Major Achievements and Records Set
It’s always fascinating to follow someone’s success story, knowing how hard the path was. Doyle is one of the inspirational jockeys with phenomenal achievements, respected by numerous fellow riders. Let’s list her collection of awards and honors from 2019 to 2023.
| Year | Achievement |
| 2019 | The record for the number of wins during one year |
| 2019 | The winner of the Lester Award for being the Lady Jockey of the Year |
| 2020 | Hollie breaks her previous record of the most successful female jockey of the year |
| 2020 | The winner of three Lester Awards, one of which is given for Flat Jockey of the Year |
| 2022 | Hollie takes second place in the Flat Jockeys Championship, battling with Tom Marquand, her Husband. This is the highest place for female jockeys |
| 2023 | Hollie became a Group 1 winner at the Royal Ascot |
| 2023 | The winner of a Silver Saddle award |
Personal Life and Interests
Hollie Doyle is married to Tom Marquand, her biggest competitor on the flat racing track. They met during apprenticeship at Richards Hannon’s Yard and, a few years later, in 2020, became engaged. During Hollie’s free time, she enjoys taking bike trips around the neighborhoods and participating in different sports training activities on social media. Once, she competed with a real footballer in a fitness test and showed impressive results.
Recent Performances and Current Status
Hollie’s current season, 2024, seems very promising. Up to August, in 696 runs overall, she won 90 times, which gives her an impressive winning ratio of 13%. With such ambitious statistics, she will be able to beat her previous records for the number of won races for the second time. Her horse choice has also been a true challenge, and she nominated 10 horses she wants to rind during this year:
- Trueshan;
- Nashwa;
- Albasheer;
- Grand Traverse;
- Noble Order;
- Intinso;
- Dyrholaey;
- Saint Lawrence;
- Enchanting;
- Action Point.
Doyle has ridden dozens of horses over the current seasons. The most successful races were on Trueshan and Nashwa, her champion horses from 2021, 2022, and 2023.
Impact and Legacy
Nobody could underestimate the impact of Hollie Doyle on the horse racing community. Her impressive performance over the last few seasons has brought even more attention to the sports discipline.
Influence on Young and Upcoming Jockeys
Still, many believe that horse racing is a sport for men. However, Hoille proves the opposite by racing against professional male jockeys. Her attitude to sports inspires many upcoming jockeys, especially young female jockeys who want to participate in professional horse racing competitions equally. Her talent and hard work prove that there are no gender boundaries in horse racing like in some other sports.
Conclusion
Hollie Doyle’s career as a jockey is a true inspiration story for many young jockeys and just horse racing enthusiasts. She has thousands of loyal fans who regularly support her and motivate her to achieve new heights. Therefore, her career path was not easy, as she had to deal with numerous injuries and emotional struggles. However, the success that came to her at such an early age inspires many racers to keep pushing and reach excellent results.
After five successful seasons, Hollie has made a mark on history, winning over 680 races in 4664 races. But, what’s more interesting, her total earnings over these incredible five years were £12,286,482, which is one of the highest numbers among UK jockeys.