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Jockey James Doyle explains why he nearly quit riding to become a plumber

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6 months ago

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Jockey James Doyle explains why he nearly quit riding to become a plumber

James Doyle, now one of Europe’s elite jockeys who will be riding at Royal Ascot, almost gave it all up when struggling for winners earlier in his career

James Doyle: early struggles led him to look into another career(PA)

  • By

    Jon Lees

  • Updated

Top jockey James Doyle will be among the leading candidates to ride most winners at Royal Ascot next week.

As the retained rider of the Emir of Qatar’s emerging Wathnan Racing team he will have a host of top notch chances for Group race honours.




Doyle, 36, has ridden over 1,600 winners in Britain, won four Classics in Britain and Ireland, 18 Royal Ascot winners and a Breeders’ Cup Turf. when retained by the powerful Godolphin stable. But at the start of his career he has admitted that trying to establish himself was a struggle.

“It’s hard when all I dreamed about was being a jockey, but being a good jockey and suddenly I found myself riding 20-odd winners a year,” he said in an interview with Sky Sports Racing.

“It doesn’t mean you are a bad jockey but at the end of the day I purchased a house when I was quite young and there were financial pressures.

“I loved doing what I was doing but it became crazy driving four hours to ride one horse up at Beverley, driving home and doing it all again the next day. It just didn’t seem to me to be making sense.

“So I gently touched on the idea or sought advice on what other things would likely to be available to me and suddenly this whole plumbing thing went crazy.”

Doyle comes from a racing family. His mother Jacqui was a racehorse trainer and sister Sophie, who is now based in the US, is also a jockey.

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