James Doyle

James Doyle (born 22 April 1988 in Cambridge, England) is a flat racing jockey. He is the son of former trainer Jacqueline Doyle. Since 2014, he has been one of the retained riders to Godolphin Racing in the UK, mainly riding horses trained by Charlie Appleby, but has announced he will ride for the Emir of Qatar from the start of 2024. Early life James Doyle was born on 22 April 1988 in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England and is the son of former trainer Jacqueline Doyle and brother of jockey Sophie Doyle. Jacqueline trained Zanay, who won the Winter Derby in 2000. James now lives in Lambourn, Berkshire. Riding career Early career James Doyle had his first ride under rules on 4 June 2004 at Goodwood on Somayda, who was trained by his mother. James Doyle rode his first winner on 1 June 2005, when he partnered the Richard Price trained gelding Farnborough to win a Class 6 Handicap run over an extended mile at Wolverhampton. During 2005, he had eight wins, four of which came on Fabrian, who was also trained by Richard Price. During 2006 he rode 73 winners, with 32 those being on Turf, including the totesport Stakes Heritage Handicap at Windsor, which he won with One More Round. One More Round was trained by Nick Littmoden, who Doyle rode for many times. During 2007 and 2008 he rode 41 and 53 winners respectively. The following two years he did not reach 30 winners in a season, finishing with totals of 28 and 29, and had half the number of rides that he had back in 2006. After struggling to get enough rides, Doyle revealed that he contemplated going on a plumbing course in 2010. However, during 2011, Doyle got booked for many more rides than the previous two years and at the end of the year had won 76 races in the UK, and had also started riding for Roger Charlton. At the end of the 2011 UK flat season, Doyle went to the UAE to ride for Dhruba Selvaratnam, winning his first race in November, and the Listed UAE Cup in December.