Which trainer provides Hollie Doyle with most winners?

Hollie Doyle made the perfect start to her riding career, winning on The Mongoose, trained by David Evans, on her first racecourse appearance at Salisbury in May, 2013, and has never looked back. In 2019, Doyle became the winning-most female jockey in a calendar year in Britain, with 116 winners. In 2020, she rode 151 winners, breaking her own record and, on October 22, 2021, rode her 152nd winner of the year to do so again.

In 2015, Hollie Doyle became apprenticed to Richard Hannon, so it should be no surprise to learn that the Wiltshire trainer was her principal benefactor in 2016 and 2017. Indeed, Hannon provided her with 10 of her 33 winners in 2016 and 20 of her 59 winners in 2017. Doyle rode out her claim in November, 2017, and the following season began a fruitful association with fledgling trainer Archie Watson, which would result in her succeeding Edward Greatrex as stable jockey at Saxon Gate Stables in 2019.

Indeed, since 2018, it has been Watson that has provided Doyle with the vast majority of her winners. In 2018, he provided 22 of her 54 winners and, in her subsequent, record-breaking seasons, 46, 39 and 43 winners, respectively. All told, in the last five seasons, Doyle has ridden 150 winners for Archie Watson, 28 winners for Richard Hannon and 26 winners for William Stone; in that same period, she is also into double-figures for Tony Carroll, Alan King, David Loughnane and Richard Spencer.

What is a Stakes Race?

Historically, the term ‘stakes race’ was used to describe a horse race in which the participants competed for prize money contributed, wholly or in part, by their owners. The official titles of the five British Classics – that is, the 1,000 Guineas, 2,000 Guineas, Derby, Oaks and St. Leger – all contain the word ‘stakes’, which provides a clue to the history of the term.

Nowadays, owners contribute to prize money through entry fees so, strictly speaking, every horse race could be described as a stakes race. However, ‘stakes race’ is commonly used, specifically, to describe a race for which eligibility is determined by official handicap ratings, as assigned by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), but weight carried is not.

For example, to be eligible to run in the highest level stakes races on the Flat, known as Group One races, horses aged three years and upwards must have achieved a minimum rating of 80. Nevertheless, Group One races are run off level weights, with allowances for age and gender; the same principle applies to Group Two, Group Three and Listed races. The BHA also employs an umbrella term, ‘conditions stakes race’ to describe any lower-level Flat race that is not a handicap, maiden, selling or claiming race.

Which trainer provided Tom Scudamore with his first winner as a professional?

Tom Scudamore is, of course, the son of Peter ‘Scu’ Scudamore, who won the Jump Jockeys’ Championship eight times between 1981/82. Scudamore Jnr. made his debut, as a 16-year-old, in an amateur riders’ race at Warwick on July 3, 1998. He finishing second on Nordic Breeze, trained by Martin Pipe, but Angel ‘Jacobs’, jockey of the easy winner, Broughtons Lure, was subsequently revealed to be Angel Monserrate, a former professional in the United States and therefore ineligible. Following a inquiry by the Jockey Club Disciplinary Commitee, Broughtons Lure was disqualified and placed last, and Scudamore was retrospectively handed his first winner.

In any event, Scudamore went on to win the Amateur Gentleman Jockeys Flat Championship in 2001, and turned professional in October that year. He rode his first winner in the paid ranks, Belle D’Anjou, trained by Martin Pipe, in a handicap hurdle at Chepstow on October 6, 2001, having ridden the same horse to victory in the Bollinger Champagne Challenge Series Final Handicap at Ascot eight days earlier.

Martin Pipe retired in April, 2006 and, the following March, Scudamore was appointed stable jockey to his son, David, who took over the training licence at Pond House Stables in Nicholashayne, Devon. At the last count, Scudamore had ridden 741 winners for the yard, 661 for David Pipe and 80 for his father.

Which are the top five racecourses in the United Kingdom?

The United Kingdom is home to 60 racecourses, Flat and National Hunt, spread across the length and breadth of the country, from Perth in Central Scotland to Newton Abbot in South West England. Each racecourse is officially graded on the total amount it is allocated, annually, in General Prize Fund (GPF) grants from the Horseracing Betting Levy Board (HBLB). Such grants are based on how much each racecourse contributes to prize money and how much off-course betting turnover it generates, so can be used as an objective, empirical measure of the ‘top’ racecourses in the country. Based on GPF grants, in 2020, the top five racecourses in the United Kingdom were Ascot, Cheltenham, Newmarket, York and Goodwood.

Ascot

Situated just six miles from Windsor Castle, Ascot Racecourse was founded by Queen Anne in 1711 and has been associated with the British Royal Family ever since. Royal Ascot, staged annually over five days in mid-June, hosts eight of the 36 Group 1 races run in Britain each year, while British Champions’ Day, in October, hosts another four. Of course, Ascot Racecourse is dual-purpose and, during the winter months, stages three Grade 1 National Hunt races.

Cheltenham

Synonymous with the Cheltenham Festival, staged annually over four days in March, Cheltenham Racecourse is the undisputed home of National Hunt racing. The 14 Grade 1 races run at the Cheltenham Festival include the Champion Hurdle, Queen Month Champion Chase, Stayers’ Hurdle and the ‘Blue Riband’ event, the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

Newmarket

Colloquially, Newmarket Racecourse is known as ‘Headquarters’ and is home to the Rowley Mile Course, used in the spring and autumn, and the July Course, used in the summer. Collectively, the courses host nine Group 1 races during the season, including two ‘Classics’, the 2,000 and 1,000 Guineas, run on the Rowley Mile Course on consecutive days in late Apri or early May.

York

Built on area of flat, low-lying ground, known as the ‘Knavesmire’, close to the city centre, York Racecourse has hosted horse racing since 1731 but, nowadays, is one of the premier racecourses in Europe.Seasonal highlights include the Juddmonte International Stakes, Yorkshire Oaks, Nunthorpe Stakes and the most valuable Flat handicap in Europe, the Ebor Handicap. All four race are run during the ‘Welcome to Yorkshire Ebor Festival’, staged annually in August.

Goodwood

Synonymous with another highlight of the British sporting and social calendar, the five-day Goodwood Festival, a.k.a. ‘Glorious Goodwood’, Goodwood Racecourse is set high on the Sussex Downs and billed as ‘The most beautiful racecourse in the world’. Racing highlights include the Goodwood Cup, Sussex Stakes and Nassau Stakes, all of which are Group 1 contests.

 

 

 

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