Hollie Doyle, who has won more races than any British female jockey, reacted to a major setback this summer by taking on one of the stiffest challenges of her career.
Doyle received a temporary license in September that allowed her to compete in Hong Kong for seven weeks until Dec. 23, by far the longest stint in Hong Kong of her career. She is scheduled to compete in the Longines International Jockeys’ Championship on Dec. 10 and the Longines Hong Kong International Races on Dec. 14.
“I’m trying to do as much as I can to keep things moving forward,” Doyle, 29, said in an interview in October.
A career filled with groundbreaking accomplishments took a step back when her five-year retainer with the owner Imad Al Sagar ended in August and she was replaced by the veteran Oisin Murphy. Doyle told Sky Sports she felt “a bit gutted.”
Doyle had enjoyed considerable success while riding for Al Sagar. She combined with Nashwa, his star mare, to earn Group 1 triumphs in the Prix de Diane, Falmouth Stakes and Nassau Stakes. She became the first female rider to capture a Group 1 European classic in the Prix de Diane in June 2022.
She made bigger history on May 10 when she guided Brindavan to the winner’s circle at a race at Ascot Racecourse. She surpassed Hayley Turner for the most victories by a British female jockey with 1,023 victories.
For owners such as Al Sagar, who oversees a global breeding operation in Blue Diamond Stud in England, the goal is to win at the highest levels. Although Doyle was able to deliver on that soon after she was retained, their fortunes had declined with Nashwa’s retirement at the end of 2024. Doyle had five wins in 22 races for Al Sagar this year before Murphy displaced her.
Teddy Grimthorpe, racing manager for Al Sagar, told Racing Post in August, “We’ve had a great time with Hollie but we felt it was time for a change.”
Doyle acknowledged during an interview with Sky Sports that there was a downturn and said, “With this blow, I know I haven’t got 10 other trainers knocking on the door or the big owner wanting to sign me, so I’ll just have to do what I’ve always done, pick myself up, brush myself off and get on with it.”
Her Hong Kong sojourn is a huge part of getting on with it. “I love challenges. I love new things,” she said. “I don’t want to become complacent. That’s a worry to me.”
Despite her accomplishments, she recognizes that she must rebuild. “When you don’t have that flag-bearing horse, you do feel it,” she said. “Hopefully, I’ll find another one.”
Turner rode from 2000 until 2025. She noted the roller-coaster nature of racing fortunes and expressed confidence that Doyle would rebound.
“It’s the mental side of the game that you need to learn and be prepared for,” she said in an email. “Just be satisfied with what you’re doing and expect to sit quiet, and it will come good again.”
Tom Marquand, Doyle’s husband and a jockey, endorsed her Hong Kong venture.
“You are riding against some really good jockeys who know the tracks extremely well,” he said in an interview in November. “It just helps you to become even sharper. It’s somewhere top-class jockeys should be.”
Marquand added, “Going to Hong Kong might open new doors, a new chapter for next season. You never know what horses you are going to unearth.”
Doyle has unfinished business in the International Jockeys’ Championship. She is scheduled to compete for the sixth consecutive year as she continues her quest to become the first woman to win the event. She tied for second in 2021 and 2024.
Her first attempt in 2020 underscored the particular challenges female riders still can face. A computer program used by race organizers helps to match riders to horses of varying abilities in an effort to create a level playing field. The winner is determined by a points system based on top finishes in four races.
“One of her four allocated rides was for a female horse owner who told me that she didn’t like the idea of a girl riding her horse,” Bill Nader, then the executive director of racing for the Hong Kong Jockey Club, said in an interview in November. “I said, ‘You do realize you are talking about Hollie Doyle, a highly accomplished jockey who earned her place on merit.’ What I didn’t say to her was that her horse had limited ability and there was no chance that any jockey could fix that.”
Doyle could not make a difference for that long shot. She displayed her talent in the next race aboard Harmony N Blessed, when she became the first woman to win a race in the International Jockeys’ Championship.
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