Hollie Doyle: Classic-Winning Rider and Britain’s Most Successful Female Jockey

For so long a male-dominated pursuit, modern horse racing has witnessed the emergence of a string of talented female riders. Focusing on the flat, trailblazers such as Hayley Turner, Josephine Gordon, and Cathy Gannon have paved the way, showing up-and-coming riders that anything the men can do, the ladies can do just as well.

The aforementioned trio compiled records that many jockeys would be proud of. However, none can quite match the exploits of a Hereford-born rider who stands 5ft nothing tall and weighs a mere eight stone. Becoming Britain’s most successful female rider of all time in 2025, and with a string of top-tier victories to her name, Hollie Doyle is a force to be reckoned with whenever she takes to the track.

Who Is Hollie Doyle?

Born in Hertfordshire on 11 October 1996, racing flows through the bloodlines of Hollie Doyle. A native of the Irish racing heartland of Clonmel, Hollie’s father, Mark, rode professionally in Britain and Ireland, both on the flat and over jumps. Her mother, Caroline, also had plenty of riding experience in the Arab racing sphere, and continued riding until five months pregnant with Hollie.

Genetically predisposed to a life in the saddle and growing up surrounded by point-to-point horses and ponies, Hollie gained her first riding experience at just 18 months. With her interest piqued, Hollie became a member of the Radnorshire and West Hertfordshire Pony Club, riding in her first race at nine. It was on the pony racing scene that Hollie first crossed paths with a young boy who would become her husband – fellow successful professional jockey, Tom Marquand.

The Early Years: Mongoose Success and Lost Teeth on Merseyside

Despite having her heart set on a career in racing, Hollie knuckled down and completed her GCSEs before moving to the Welsh yard of David Evans to serve as an apprentice. During her time in Monmouthshire, Hollie completed a Level 2 Equine Groom Apprenticeship and broadened her horizons by spending six weeks as a work rider in the sunnier climes of Santa Anita, California.

Hollie was handed her first ride aboard The Mongoose on 5 May 2013. Kicking off her career in style, Doyle drove the Mongoose up the centre of the track to break her duck at the first time of asking.

Hollie’s next move took her to the Wiltshire yard of Richard Hannon, where she worked as an apprentice jockey alongside her boyfriend, Tom Marquand. Gaining valuable experience in 2014 and 2015, she enjoyed a breakout 33-winner 2016 and rode out her claim during a 59-winner 2017 campaign. The standout moment in 2017 came when riding her first Listed winner aboard Billesden Bess in the Upavon Fillies’ Stakes at Salisbury.

The life of a jockey rarely runs smoothly. Such was the case for Hollie, who lost her two front teeth and cracked several others when unseated by her mount Snoop in a 2018 event at Haydock. Displaying the dedication to her craft that would run through her career, Hollie was back in the saddle only 10 days later.

2019/20 – Into the Record Books

What a ride! Hollie Doyle wins her first Group 1!

She’s on fire as Glen Shiel holds on in the QIPCO British Champions Sprint! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/zNYOAUHJwb

— Ascot Racecourse (@Ascot) October 17, 2020

Having posted 50+ wins in both 2017 and 2018, Hollie upped the pace considerably in 2019. Her tally of 116 wins was a new single-season record for female riders in Britain, surpassing the previous benchmark of 106 set by Josephine Gordon in 2017. That fine season was honoured when Hollie received the Female Jockey of the Year Award at the Lester Awards ceremony.

As impressive as 2019 was for Doyle, the rising star scaled new heights in 2020. With 150 victories, she smashed her own record for the number of wins by a female rider in a season. Highlights included:

• Scarlet Dragon – First Royal Ascot winner in the Duke of Edinburgh Stakes
• Dame Malliot – First Group race winner in the Princess of Wales’s Stakes
• Trueshan – Hollie’s success in the Long Distance Cup made her the first female jockey to ride a winner on British Champions Day
• Glen Shiel – Later on the 2020 British Champions Day card, Hollie rode the first Group 1 winner of her career in the British Champions Sprint Stakes

With her talent increasingly hard to ignore, the Irishwoman caught the eye of powerful owner Imad Al Sagar, who appointed Doyle as his retained rider in July 2020. She quickly returned her new employers’ faith when riding Al Sagar’s Extra Elusive to Group 3 success in the Rose Of Lancaster Stakes in August 2020. Later in that month, the brilliant jockey entered the history books at Windsor when she became the first female rider to land five winners on a single card.

A few years after making her debut, Hollie was one of the most talked about and admired riders in the sport. She ended 2020 with three Lester Awards, including the prestigious Flat Jockey of the Year title, and finished third behind F1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton and Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson at the Sports Personality of the Year Awards.

2021-2023: Success Continues at Home and Abroad

2021 began with a bang for Doyle. Travelling to Riyadh on 20 February, she rode the Willie Mullins-trained True Self to victory in the Neom Turf Cup, earning a huge £437,956 for connections. Less than two weeks later, she rode five winners on the same card for the second time in her career, with the all-weather track at Kempton providing the stage this time.

Later in 2021, Hollie rode in a British Classic for the first time when partnering the Archie Watson filly Lemon Sherbet to a ninth-place finish in the Oaks. Then, in September, she became the first female jockey to earn prize money in a British Classic, when finishing fourth aboard Interpretation in the St. Leger. A second career Group 1 arrived aboard Trueshan in the Goodwood Cup, while her year-end tally of 172 British winners set another new record for a female rider.

Hollie’s number of winners dipped slightly to 151 in 2022, but that was still enough for a joint second-place finish in the Champion Jockey Standings – the best finish ever for a female rider. Joining Doyle on the silver medal podium was none other than husband Tom Marquand.

2022 also saw Hollie achieve the most spectacular success of her career to date. Heading to Chantilly to ride Nashwa in the Prix de Diane for Imad Al Sagar and John & Thady Gosden, she became the first female rider to win a European Group 1 Classic.

A fractured elbow and ruptured ligaments sustained in a nasty fall at Wolverhampton saw the star spend two months on the sidelines in 2023. However, she bounced back to claim her second Classic in the Oaks d’Italia at San Siro and won her first Group 1 at Royal Ascot aboard the speedy Bradsell in the King’s Stand Stakes.

1,000 Winners and Counting

A dream come true to win my first Classic today in the Prix de Diane at Chantilly! Huge congratulations to Imad Al Sagar, owner & breeder of Nashwa @BlueDiamondStd . Well done also to John & Thady Gosden and all the team at Clarehaven. An amazing performance from a star filly 💚 pic.twitter.com/g0uPCAunG4

— Hollie Doyle (@HollieDoyle1) June 19, 2022

Hollie Doyle’s partnership with Imad Al Sagar ended in August 2025. However, that was a mere blip in a year which included two notable achievements. Her success aboard Handle With Care at Lingfield on 24 March was her 1,000th win in British racing. Then on 10 May, she reached the magical total of 1,023, surpassing Hayley Turner’s career total of 1,022 to become the most successful British female jockey of all time.

Small in size but big on talent, determination, and toughness, Doyle has ridden tens of Group race winners, including top-tier victories in Britain, Ireland, and France. Amassing well over £12 million in total prize money for connections, she has followed in the footsteps of greats to set a new benchmark for the female riders to come.