Darryll Holland has committed to proving himself to a new generation of racehorse owners, his fresh start in British racing having so far proved less fruitful than was hoped. The 44-year-old, whose career began more than a quarter of a century ago, was described as stable jockey to the Lambourn trainer Charlie Hills when he returned to these shores in February but is currently getting the leg-up on a minority of Hills runners.
“Basically, you’re easily forgotten in this game,” Holland said on Monday. “I’ve been away for three or four years and some of the owners in the yard have a preference [for other riders].
“But I’m getting plenty of outside rides and I’m still riding winners. It looks like the Dazzler’s just going to have to prove himself again!”
Holland was surprised and delighted to be approached by Hills in mid-December, having spent the previous three years riding in South Korea and Mauritius. The jockey described his return as “going back to my old adopted family”, as Hills’s father, Barry, had given him his first job in racing at the age of 15.
But Hills Jr has found some of his owners resistant to the idea of using Holland. Of the yard’s eight runners at Royal Ascot last week, Holland got the ride on just one, a 33-1 shot who finished well beaten in the Wokingham. Hills said during the meeting that he was giving Holland rides when he could and that he was choosing jockeys on a “case-by-case” basis.
Holland points out that riding arrangements were already in place before his arrival for some of the stable stars, like Magical Memory, Cotai Glory and Dutch Connection. “I wasn’t on them from the start, so it’s not a case of me being jocked off. Me and Charlie get on really well, he’s a good friend of mine. And he would agree that a lot of the two-year-olds need a run first time up and that’s what I’ve been riding, mostly. I’m still confident in my own abilities.”
More than half of Holland’s 13 winners in Britain this year have come from outside rides. While most of his mounts in the past fortnight have been unfancied, he achieved a 30% win-rate on horses returned at odds shorter than 10-1.
And there is no doubting his willingness to put in the miles, judging by Tuesday’s cards. Holland will ride a two-year-old for Hills in the opener at Brighton before the jockey goes up to Leicester for the evening card, where he has a couple of handicap rides booked for Mark Tompkins and Trevor Wall.
On Wednesday, he will be at Carlisle, taking four rides for Alan Swinbank, who has already provided him with two winners from five mounts this year. “I’m trying to rekindle some of the old contacts,” the jockey says.
The Manchester-born Holland, who was champion apprentice in 1991, two years after Frankie Dettori held that title, has a stack of big-race successes to his name from his first 20 years in the saddle, including more than a dozen European Group Ones, the most recent of which came aboard the 16-1 shot Majestic Roi in the Sun Chariot at Newmarket in 2007.
He earned ‘ride of the week’ from the sport’s trade paper for that effort aboard a filly who was not straightforward and eventually retired with just three wins from 16 starts to her name.
Barry Hills has said Holland was good enough in his early days to have been champion and, while the jockey has yet to win a British Classic, he steered the 150-1 shot Blues Traveller into third place in the 1993 Derby.
