‘Who is everyone going to pick? I knew it wouldn’t be me’ - the sharp reality check that led to Hollie Doyle’s incredible rise

Hollie Doyle has paid tribute to her chief ally Archie Watson and recalled the sharp reality check that led her to first ride out for the trainer as she closes in on becoming the most successful female jockey in the history of British racing.

Doyle was speaking to the Racing Post for a major interview in Sunday’s newspaper during a period that has seen her storm from one landmark to the next, becoming just the second woman to pass 1,000 winners in Britain at the end of March and then equalling Hayley Turner's record of 1,022 for a female rider in Britain at Chelmsford on Thursday night.

Doyle was attached to the Richard Hannon yard when riding out her claim in 2017, a point at which many young riders have seen their careers fall by the wayside. Determined not to have the same thing happen to her, the 28-year-old set in motion a chain of events that soon launched her into the big time.

"When I lost my claim I was trying to spread my wings a bit, because I was suddenly in the same pool as the likes of Sean Levey, Ryan Moore and Pat Dobbs,” she said. “On the list of decs, who is everyone going to pick? I knew it wouldn't be me, so I began riding out for a few other people and I went once a week to ride out for Archie Watson, who was only a year or two into training.

Hollie Doyle in the weighing room at Ascot racecourseCredit: Edward Whitaker

"Once a week would turn into twice, and then it got to four days a week, and soon I was in a position where I was getting thrown an opportunity and I had to take it. Archie and I have progressed together since then. He's straightforward to ride for, I've got a good understanding of the system he has in place and he's a very good judge of a horse, so it's worked out really well." 

Perhaps the highlight of her time with Watson came at Royal Ascot in 2023, when the pair combined for three winners with Bradsell, Rhythm N Hooves and Saint Lawrence. But it was at the same track on Champions Day in 2020 that Doyle truly made her name, when two winners on the card included a Group 1 breakthrough on Watson’s Glen Shiel in the Champions Sprint.

"Out of six races on Champions Day I had two winners and Tom [Marquand, husband] had two as well," she reminisced. "It was mad. I remember walking out of there and dragging the big Ascot bags on the ground because I was so small and the prizes were so heavy. Tom and I got to the car and we looked at each other and just started laughing. We were thinking, 'What have we just done?'”

Read more from Hollie Doyle in the Big Read, available in Sunday's newspaper or online for Racing Post+ Ultimate subscribers from 6pm on Saturday. Click here to sign up

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