Tom Marquand and Hollie Doyle have landed in Japan and the husband-and-wife jockeys are relishing not only the challenge of riding on the JRA circuit for the third winter in a row, but also the opportunity it gives them to spend more time together.
Marquand, third in the British jockeys’ premiership this year, is booked to ride at Tokyo on Saturday and at Kyoto on Sunday, including the Silk Racing-owned mare Scintillation in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup, while Doyle, who placed seventh in the title race, will compete at Fukushima on both Saturday and Sunday.
“I’m really looking forward to getting back to Japan,” Doyle told Idol Horse at Del Mar last week as she prepared to ride at the Breeders’ Cup before going on to Australia for the Melbourne Cup, then to Tokyo. Both jockeys are licensed to ride on the JRA (Japan Racing Association) through Arima Kinen day, December 22.
Marquand echoed Doyle’s bright reaction to their return to Japan.
“We look forward to it throughout the year, so it’s always a nerve-wracking week when you’re waiting to find out if you’ve been invited because it’s something we’re really keen to do,” Marquand told Idol Horse.
That isn’t surprising given his own success there under his two previous short-term licences. He bagged 16 wins in 2022 and 20 in 2023; Doyle had a tougher time with two wins in 2022, but earned respect and upped her tally to 12 in 2023.
Now the aim is to become more established and further develop connections that will bring more success, and, the hope is, a profile-lifting stakes race or two that might eventually lead to them being among that select group of jockeys who get the call when a Japanese runner ventures overseas.
“You hope you’ve made those connections but because you’re not spending a lot of time there it’s difficult to know,” Marquand said. “People like Ryan (Moore) and Will (Buick) have spent a lot of time in Japan over a number of years, it’s a lot of ground work and a lot of success that goes into creating that kind of solid base. We’re not there yet but we have some fantastic people who have us over: I’m attached to Keisuke Miyata and Hollie has Hiroyasu Tanaka and they’ve been brilliant.
“It’s nice now being able to go back and recognise people and people recognise us, the trainers and the guys at Miho (training centre), just going out at Miho in the morning and recognising them. Hopefully, one day, we’ll feel established in Japan but it’s definitely not yet.”
With the season in Britain being so relentless, day after day, without a break, the Marquand-Doyle temporary relocation to Japan brings with it an extra bonus, the opportunity to spend time together away from racing.
“It’s a different way of life in Japan to what we’ve ever had to do,” Marquand explained. “We’ve grown up together from the age of 13, 14, just flat-out, and it’s been the way it is and it’s fine, and we enjoy that, but it is nice now to be able to go to somewhere like Japan.
“We go for the racing and that’s the priority, and we’d still go whether we had time off or not, but just having a day or two off, to go and have a bit of lunch together like two normal people, and enjoy a bit of time together while enjoying an amazing country and great people, it’s a perfect mix of everything.”
The JRA’s weekend-only racing schedule enables the downtime they can spend together.
“We ride out on Wednesday and Thursday, and because it’s at Miho, it takes about an hour and a half travelling, so we get back into the city at around 1pm or 2pm,” Marquand explained. “But Monday and Tuesday are proper days off for us, then the rest of the week you’re working, so Thursday and Friday you watch your weight back down for the weekend. It’s a big contrast to what we do at home where we have so much travelling.
“The first half of the season in Britain we’re busy, but for whatever reason, with how the fixtures fall for us, we end up in a lot of the same places on race days and see quite a lot of each other. But then you get to August and we go in opposite directions. We sat down (recently on a) Sunday night and we actually hadn’t seen each properly in about six weeks.
“But I’d hate for anyone to ever think it’s a complaint because it’s what we do, we love it and long may it last, but it is nice to settle down for a month or two and enjoy each other’s company and that’s a part of why we love going to Japan.”
Another reason Doyle and Marquand have found for loving Japan is the enthusiasm that exists there among the sport’s fans.
“It’s lovely, the fanbase that racing has in Japan,” said Marquand. “It’s a fundamental part of Japanese racing and it’s a large part of what we enjoy about it. It’s amazing to see the passion and the care for the racing and the horses, it’s something we both, as racing fans, enjoy: obviously we’re professional jockeys, but we’re racing fans at heart, so seeing that side of it is nice, and to be honest, it makes it really enjoyable knowing you have that many people that care and enjoy it.”
Doyle has notched two Group 1 wins this year, and Marquand, who has partnered five Group 1 winners this year, including Economics in the Irish Champion Stakes and Makarova in the Prix de l’Abbaye at Longchamp, believes those big wins on high-profile ‘international’ days are important to deepening connections in Japan.
“Japanese racing has such a strong fanbase but it predominantly follows Japanese racing and Japanese horses particularly. I felt that the Irish Champion Stakes with Shin Emperor being in the race, and me riding the winner, and then Arc day with Makarova, having Japanese runners on those days mean they’re important profile builders throughout the world. It does make you conscious on a day with Japanese runners that they’re watching and it’s important.
“You’d like to think that we’ll start building quality more and more in Japan,” he added ∎
