Category: Jockeys

Who is Rachael Blackmore?

Nowadays, Rachael Blackmore is stable jockey to Henry De Bromhead and her rise to prominence has gone hand-in-hand with that of the Co. Waterford trainer in recent years. Born in Killenaule, Co. Tipperary in July, 1989, Blackmore was, by her own admission, an ‘extremely average’ amateur jockey, but nevertheless turned professional in March, 2015, because she ‘just needed the practice’.

She rode her first winner as a professional, Most Honourable, trained by John ‘Shark’ Hanlon, in a handicap hurdle at Clonmel in September, 2015. The following season, 2016/17, Blackmore rode 32 winners and became the first female jockey to be crowned Irish Champion Conditional Jockey. Subsequent seasons yielded 34, 90 and 61 winners, respectively and in 2020/21, so far, she has ridden 82 winners and trails only reigning champion Paul Townend, by just four, in the race for the Irish National Hunt jockeys’ title.

Blackmore rode her first winner at the Cheltenham Festival, A Plus Tard, in the Close Brothers Novices’ Handicap Chase in 2019 and her first Grade One winner, Minella Indo, in the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle at the same Festival three days later. She has since added eleven more victories at the highest level, including Honeysuckle in the Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle at the 2020 Cheltenham Festival.

How many times has Ryan Moore completed the 1,000 Guineas – Oaks double?

How many times has Ryan Moore completed the 1,000 Guineas – Oaks double? Although he British Champion Jockey in 2006, 2008 and 2009, Ryan Moore has, since 2015, been first choice jockey to Aidan O’Brien at Ballydoyle Stables, Co. Tipperary. Indeed, it was in that capacity that he completed the 1,000 Guineas – Oaks double for the first time in 2016 and did so again in 2020. Moore had won the 1,000 Guineas twice before, on Homecoming Queen, trained by O’Brien, in 2012 and Legatissimo, trained by David Wachman, in 2015, and the Oaks once before, on Snow Fairy, trained by Ed Dunlop

In 2016, Minding – later described by O’Brien as ‘one of the best fillies I have ever trained’ – justified favouritism in the 1,000 Guineas, leading home an O’Brien 1-2-3 in the process. The Galileo filly suffered a facial injury leaving the stalls when narrowly beaten, at long odds-on, in the Irish equivalent, but justified favouritism, again, in the Oaks. In fact, had she been trained by anyone but O’Brien, she may well have contested the Derby, rather than the Oaks.

Four years later, Ryan Moore won both fillies’ Classics in the same season for a second time, aboard another Galileo filly, Love. She won the 1,000 Guineas by 4¼ lengths and the Oaks impressively, by 9 lengths. Like Minding in 2016, Love was named Cartier Three-Year-Old Filly in 2020.

Who is Darryl Holland?

Most recently, Darryl Holland hit the headlines when, in March, 2021, he embarked on a second career as a trainer, based at Harraton Court in Exning, near Newmarket, which he has owned since 2008. However, Holland, 48, remains best known as globetrotting jockey, who rode winners in jurisdictions as far afield as Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, Mauritius, South Korea and the United States, as well as in Britain, during a long, illustrious career.

Born in Manchester in June, 1972, Holland began his riding career as apprentice to Barry Hills, riding his first winner, Sinclair Boy, at Warwick in 1990 and becoming Champion Apprentice, with a post-war record 85 winners, the following season. In Britain, he was associated with trainers such as Luca Cumani, Geoffrey Wragg, Mark Johnston and, later in his career, Charles Hills, son of Barry.

Indeed, around the turn of the century, Holland was one of the leading jockeys in the country and enjoyed his most successful season, numerically, in 2004; he rode 157 winners, eventually finishing runner-up to Frankie Dettori in the jockeys’ championship. On home soil, Holland is best known for his association with Falbrav, trained by Luca Cumani, on whom he won the Coral-Eclipse, Juddmonte International and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes in 2003.

How many winners did Hollie Doyle ride in 2021?

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.

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