Mauritius ambassador Stevie Donohoe back in Britain to drum up interest in racing on paradise island

Stevie Donohoe is top of the jockeys' standings in Mauritius but the former champion apprentice has returned to Britain in a bid to engage owners and trainers in the racing on the Indian Ocean island.

The 39-year-old signed a three-year contract to ride in Mauritius and leads the championship with 25 winners, and in his ambassadorial role he is back on familiar territory to try to tempt people to send their horses there.

He said: "I'm on a two-week break to network and drum up some support for people to send horses out to Mauritius. I’m flying up to Scotland to meet some people who are willing to support us and we already have Lycett Racing on board. I think UK horses would be suited by racing out there.”

Donohoe took his final rides in Britain in November last year at the end of a productive 2022 campaign. His 35 winners came at a 14 per cent strike-rate, thanks largely to support from William Haggas, for whom he won the German 2,000 Guineas on Maljoom.

A nerve injury to his shoulder curtailed his campaign and he explored other options, leading to the move to Mauritius. 

Donohoe said: “I had a great year in 2022 but even so I still felt the reward for what I was doing was still not adding up financially and also mentally. I’d ridden in Mauritius a couple of years ago and I had good contacts and went out there on holiday to have a look. 

"I got offered a job with Ricky Maingard, who is one of the biggest trainers and I'm club jockey and brand ambassador for the PTP who run racing out there."

Stevie Donohoe is led into the winner's enclosure on Chosen Way at Champ de Mars racecourse

His new lifestyle in Mauritius, which has two racecourses, has meant Donohoe has not looked back since leaving Britain. He works a maximum three days a week, in contrast to the six or seven days when riding in Britain.

Donohue added: "In Mauritius I live such a nice life where I sit on a beach every day rather than sit in traffic. I wake up with no stress, no pressure and we only race once a week on a Saturday.

“I feel appreciated out there rather than here where I was just surviving. I was getting to a point where organising everything to get to the track was too much. The riding was the easy part.”

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