James Doyle to ride for Prince Khalid Abdullah

James Doyle’s career remains on a sharp rise. Image courtesy of racingfotos.com.

Three years ago James Doyle enrolled on a plumbing course because he was not riding enough winners to make being a jockey viable. How fortunes can change!

First things picked up in 2011 and he never started the plumbing course.

Next he landed the job in 2012 as number one rider to trainer Roger Charlton, who has a number of Prince Khalid-owned horses in his yard.

That led to him partnering the Prince Khalid-owned Cityscape to glory in the Group 1 Dubai Duty Free at Meydan on Dubai World Cup Night in 2012 while he also brought him home in second place in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on QIPCO British Champions Day in October.

This year it has got even better thanks to Al Kazeem, who is owned by John Deere, who won three Group 1 races in succession including two in the QIPCO British Champions Series, the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot and the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown Park.

As a result, Doyle has picked up 55 points in the Jockey of the Series table to lie in joint-seventh place behind Richard Hughes, who leads with 100 points.

Now it has just got even better for the 25-year-old as he has just landed the plum job of riding Prince Khalid’s UK-trained horses which will start with the John Gosden-trained Kingman, currently ante-post favourite for next year’s QIPCO 2000 Guineas, in the Solario Stakes at Sandown Park this Saturday.

Ironically he is a close friend of William Buick, John Gosden’s stable jockey, who will miss out on the ride as a result of this appointment.

Another jockey to suffer will be Tom Queally, Lady Cecil’s retained jockey, who rode the Prince Khalid-owned Frankel throughout his career. Lady Cecil’s yard has many Prince Khalid-owned horses.

Lord Grimthorpe, racing manager to Prince Khalid Abdullah, said today:

"Prince Khalid has been very impressed with his riding, including, of course, Al Kazeem this season.

"James will ride all Juddmonte-owned, UK-trained horses, starting with Kingman at Sandown on Saturday."