Category: Jockeys

In terms of column inches, Hollie Doyle may have been upstaged by the historic achievements of her National Hunt counterpart Rachael Blackmore in recent seasons, but the ‘Pocket Rocket’, as she’s affectionately known, has continued to break records in her own right. Prior to 2019, the record for the most wins in a calendar year for a British female jockey was 106, set by Josephine Gordon in 2017. However, in 2019, Doyle rode 116 winners and, in 2020, broke her own record with 151 winners.

Lo and behold, on October 22, 2021, Doyle surpassed her previous seasonal best on Mustazeed, trained by Chris Wall, at Doncaster and went on to ride 172 winners in the year as a whole, setting yet another new record. In the Flat Jockeys’ Championship, which was decided on winners between May 1, 2021 and October 16, 2021, Doyle rode 87 winners from 592 rides, at a strike rate of 15%, which was good enough for fifth place.

Highlights of 2021 included a 2,521-1 five-timer at Kempton Park on March 3, a first Classic ride on Sherbert Lemon, trained by Archie Watson, in the Oaks at Epsom on June 4 and the second Group 1 win of her career, on Trueshan, trained by Alan King, in the Goodwood Cup on July 27. Doyle also rode Interpretation, trained by Aidan O’Brien, into fourth place in the St. Leger at Doncaster on September 11, making her the first female jockey to finish in the money in a British Classic.

What used to be widely known as the bookmakers’ ‘Spring Double’ involves coupling the winner of the Lincoln Handicap at Doncaster with the winner of the Grand National at Aintree. Obviously, both races still exist but, in the heyday of ante-post betting, many column inches were devoted to landing the ‘Spring Double’ and, thereby, the potentially astronomical odds on offer.

Of course, the Lincoln Handicap and the Grand National are vastly different races, run under different codes, so for any jockey to win both during his/her career is a distinctly tall order. Nevertheless, David Victor ‘Dave’ Dick – not to be confused with his father, David Purves Dick, also a National Hunt jockey and, later, a trainer – did so.

Remarkably, for a man who would eventually stand 6′ feet tall, Dave Dick partnered outsider Gloaming to a four-length victory in the 1941 Lincolnshire Handicap, in the days when it was still run at Lincoln Racecourse, before his burgeoning weight put paid to his career as a Flat jockey. As a National Hunt jockey, Dick went on to complete the Grand National Course a record nine times, but won the National just once, under extraordinary circumstances, in 1956.

Dick and his mount, E.S.B., trained by Fred Rimmell, were the principal beneficaries when Devon Loch, owned by Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, inexplicably collapsed, just yards from the winning post, with the race at his mercy. Dick confessed to being a ‘very lucky’ winner, but nonetheless won the second leg of a long-range ‘Spring Double’, 15 years after winning the first leg.

For the benefit of anyone without access to public access broadcasting, Rachael Blackmore is an Irish National Hunt jockey who has climbed to the pinnacle of her profession and achieved a series of notable ‘firsts’ along the way. Tipperary-born Blackmore, 32, rode her first winner as a professional, Most Honourable, trained by John Joseph ‘Shark’ Hanlon, at Clonmel in September, 2015. The following season, 2016/17, she was Irish champion conditional jockey with 32 winners.

However, it was when she joined Waterford trainer Henry de Bromhead as stable jockey that her career really took off. Blackmore rode her first Cheltenham winners, A Plus Tard in the Close Brothers Novices’ Handicap Chase and Minella Indo in the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle, in 2019 and the rest, as they say, is history.

At the 2020 Cheltenham Festival, Blackmore won the Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle on Honeysuckle, but would win the Champion Hurdle on the same horse in 2021 – making her the first female jockey to do so – and again in 2022. At the 2021 Cheltenham Festival, she rode a total a six winners, thereby becoming the first female jockey to win the Ruby Walsh Trophy, which is presented to the leading jockey during the week.

Three weeks later, Blackmore became the first female jockey to win the Grand National, on Minella Times and, at the 2022 Cheltenham Festival, also became the first female jockey to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup, on A Plus Tard. Blackmore has yet to win the Irish Jump Jockeys’ Championship, but has finished runner-up twice, in 2018/2019 and 2020/2021, with 90 winners and 92 winners, respectively, so another ‘first’ is probably only a matter of time.