It has been a landmark year for flat jockey phenomenon Hollie Doyle, and she continued to send records tumbling at the International Jockeys’ Championship in Hong Kong, as she became the first woman to ride a winner at the Happy Valley-based meeting.
The 24-year-old was in the saddle of the David Hayes-trained Harmony N Blessed, who was the 11/10 favourite in the horse racing betting odds, for the Longines International Jockeys’ Championship fourth leg.
Doyle started well from the stalls but held on until the closing stages of the six-furlong contest before asking more of the four-year-old, and the gelding responded in empathic fashion, fighting off the challenge from Ryan Moore aboard 16/5 shot Grateful Heart to win by just short of a length.
The result meant that Doyle, who followed in the footsteps of Emma-Jayne Wilson (2007) and Chantal Sutherland (2009) to become just the third women to compete in the Chinese tournament, finished a very respectful joint-third in the championship, behind only Zac Purton and runner-up Joao Moreira.
It was an all-British top three in the fourth leg, as along with Doyle and Moore in first and second, Tom Marquand landed his first points of the championship onboard Wind N Grass in third.
The 24-year-old branded her victory with Harmony N Blessed ‘absolutely unbelievable’, whilst she also claimed that it was a ‘huge privilege’ for her and her partner Marquand to be asked to take part in the championship, which only 12 of the world’s best jockeys get to enter.
“It’s absolutely unbelievable. I knew I had a good chance on this horse, but you need a lot of things to go right” Doyle said.
“He jumped well, I didn’t have to ask much of him early on and he settled really nicely on the girths of the leader really nicely. The further I was going, the better.
“It’s a huge privilege for Tom and I to be asked after a great season and it’s icing on the cake!”
Hollie Doyle continued to send records tumbling at the International Jockeys’ Championship in Hong Kong
Doyle racked up an impressive 142 wins in 935 rides this season, breaking the record of 116 for the most victories by a British female jockey, which she actually set last year.
The 24-year-old also landed her first winner at Royal Ascot back in June, a Champions Day double, which was her first triumph at Group One level and the first time a female rider had won at the historic meeting, four wins at Wolverhampton and a record five wins on the same card at Windsor – which was worth a whopping 889/1 with the bookies.
Her incredible year hasn’t gone unnoticed in the wider sporting world either! Last month, she was revealed as the winner of the Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year, beating the likes of Lizzie Deignan (cyclist), Jessica Learmonth (triathlete), Fallon Sherrock (darts) and Georgia Taylor-Brown (triathlete) to the award, whilst she has also made the six-person shortlist for the upcoming BBC Sports Personality of the Year award.
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