James Doyle has lost his position as first rider to Saeed bin Suroor and will henceforth be one of several jockeys who must share opportunities offered by the Godolphin trainer. The news emerged on Tuesday in light of Bin Suroor having booked William Buick for three of his four runners over the next two days.
“Our policy will be to choose the jockey who best suits individual horses,” Bin Suroor said in quotes published by the Racing Post. Doyle insists he is still “excited” to be part of Godolphin’s team, despite his apparent demotion after less than two years in the role.
Bin Suroor was essentially tied to one jockey, Frankie Dettori, for his first 18 years as a trainer in Britain but has acquired a reputation for faithlessness since the Italian left Sheikh Mohammed’s employ at the end of 2012. Silvestre de Sousa was his principal jockey the following year but by May 2014, Bin Suroor’s preference had switched to Kieren Fallon.
In total, he used 38 jockeys in Britain that year, with Doyle being signed up as his principal rider that November, Fallon having faded out of the picture. There was some early success for the new combination when they won two Group Ones together in Dubai in early 2015 but they have not added to that tally at the sport’s highest level since.
Bin Suroor may now be feeling some pressure in the closing stages of a year in which his Newmarket yard has been badly affected by a virus, and he had only three runners in the whole of August. This year may eventually prove to be the first of his career in which he fails to train a Group One winner. Charlie Appleby, meanwhile, Godolphin’s other trainer in Newmarket, provided the organisation with its first Eclipse Stakes winner for 12 years when Hawkbill won the Sandown race in July.
Bin Suroor told the Post: “James has ridden some nice winners for Godolphin and I hope he will ride many more. He’s a friend and a big part of the Godolphin team.”
Doyle is quoted as saying: “I fully respect it is Saeed’s decision to choose who rides the horses in his care. I’m incredibly proud to wear the blue silks and will continue to ride for Godolphin whenever asked. It’s a great team.
“When I was appointed along with William Buick to be a stable jockey for Godolphin … it was unquestionably one of the greatest days of my professional career.”
Doyle will hope to follow the example of De Sousa, who became champion jockey in the year after being ditched by Godolphin. Doyle had previously shown his skills as a big-race rider when bagging Group Ones on Cityscape, Al Kazeem, Rizeena, Kingman and Noble Mission, building a reputation that seems sure to survive his fall from Bin Suroor’s favour.
Buick now appears to be the de facto No1 jockey for the whole of Godolphin’s British operation, a significant improvement on his fortunes from midsummer, when he served a month-long ban after being rude to raceday stewards in France. At Goodwood on Wednesday he will partner Bin Suroor’s Sky Hunter in a Listed contest which is thought to be a prep-race for the horse on the way to the Melbourne Cup. At Newmarket on Thursday, Buick will ride both of Bin Suroor’s runners while Doyle treks to Pontefract for a single ride.
Godolphin confirmed last week that it was cutting back on its worldwide bloodstock investments. The plan, however, is that this should not result in a significant reduction in its number of runners.
