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.
Irish billionaire John Patrick McManus, almost invariably known in horse racing circles as ‘J.P.’, is far and away the most successful owner in the history of the Cheltenham Festival, with 66 winners to his name. Nevertheless, even by his own exalted standards, McManus enjoyed a remarkable Festival in 2020.
The Gold Cup – often referred to as the ‘Ascot Gold Cup’, to distinguish it from similarly-titled races, such as the Ayr Gold Cup or Cheltenham Gold Cup – is run over an advertised distance of 2 miles 4 furlongs as has been a fixture of the Royal Meeting at Ascot, traditionally staged in mid-June, since 1807. In its long, illustrious history, a total of 22 horses have won the Gold Cup at least twice, but the most successful of all, so far, was Yeats, who won four consecutive renewals between 2006 and 2009.
William Peter ‘Willie’ Mullins is, of course, the son of Paddy Mullins, the legendary trainer best remembered for saddling Dawn Run to win the Champion Hurdle in 1984 and the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1986. Indeed, Willie Mullins worked as assistant trainer to his father and another Irish giant, Coolcullen handler Jim Bolger, before taking out a training licence in his own right in 1988.