A TOP racehorse owner has removed Hollie Doyle from all her rides with immediate effect – and replaced her with Oisin Murphy.
Trailblazing rider Doyle, 28, has lost the high-profile gig as retained rider to Imad Alsagar.
GettyHollie Doyle has been replaced on all horses owned by Imad Alsagar with immediate effect – in a shock ‘change of strategy’[/caption]
She had three Group 1 wins – Prix de Diane, Nassau Stakes and the Falmouth – on his stable star Nashwa, winning just shy of £1.7million together, and 38 wins for the Kuwait-born owner in all.
But Doyle, who had been in the role since 2020, has been replaced immediately with four-time champion jockey Murphy.
He rides Alsagar’s Gamrai at Windsor tonight and will pilot outsider May Angel in the Group 3 Acomb Stakes at York on Wednesday.
Murphy, who last month was hit with a £70,000 drink-driving fine and ban, will also ride 7-2 fav Zgharta in a fillies’ handicap at York on Friday.
Teddy Grimthorpe, Alsagar’s racing manager, told the Racing Post that Doyle, who has more than 1,000 career wins and £17.1m in prize money, had officially lost the gig last Friday.
Explaining the thinking behind the decision, he said: “It’s a change of strategy.
“We’ve had some wonderful years with Hollie and Imad wanted to have a bit of a change.
“Our relationship with her is still strong and I hope it will continue to be so.
“Oisin will be the way forward when available.
“Oisin is contracted to Qatar Racing and Prince Faisal so I’d imagine we’d be third down.
“We’ve had a great time with Hollie but we felt it was time for a change.”
Doyle was appointed retained rider to Alsagar in the same year she finished third in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award.
Her French Oaks win aboard Nashwa in June 2022 – which Grimthorpe said was the highlight of Doyle and Alsagar’s time together – was history-making.
With the victory Doyle, who is married to fellow jockey Tom Marquand, became the first woman to win a French Classic.
She also became the first female jockey to win a European Group 1 Classic.
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