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Now one of the biggest names in the jockey ranks, James Doyle nearly swapped his silks for spanners in the 2010s, contemplating leaving racing to become a plumber. Little did he know a certain Roger Charlton-trained horse was about to enter his life and change his journey.

Speaking on the Idol Horse podcast ‘The Race’, Doyle tells host Andrew Le Jeune about his maiden Group 1 victory aboard Cityscape in the 2012 Dubai Duty Free Stakes on World Cup night at Meydan Racecourse, Dubai.

Doyle comes from a racing family: his mum Jacqueline was a former trainer, and his sister Sophie is also a jockey. But early in his career he faced a crossroads: long drives for a single ride, day in and day out, around 20-odd winners a year. It began to make little sense.

That’s when plumbing entered the picture. Jacqueline, however, has quipped, “Putting a plug in the sink would be about as close as James would get to being a plumber.” Just before starting his plumbing course he rode 11 winners in nine days, breaking a lengthy drought. That success kept Doyle in the saddle.

In 2011 Doyle began going to Charlton’s yard to ride morning work, which eventually evolved into race-day opportunities.

“I was going into Roger Charlton’s just galloping horses in the morning. After a month or so of doing that, he put me on a couple of horses that seemed to go quite well, and most of them won,” said Doyle.

It was not long after when Doyle was offered the opportunity to head to Dubai and ride through the winter carnival at Meydan.

“Dhruba Selvaratnam, who was a trainer at the time in Dubai, was training Sheikh Ahmed’s horses. He was looking for a jockey, and William Buick had been out there riding for him the previous few seasons. So, William Buick put my name forward, and thankfully, I got the job. I spent the winter of 2011 over in Dubai.”

Doyle’s winter spell at Meydan proved pivotal when Cityscape’s regular rider Steve Drowne was injured, leaving connections in search of a new jockey ahead of World Cup night. Doyle remembers the phone call vividly:

“I’ll never forget the phone call. Roger rang me and said Steve Drowne had an unfortunate accident at home and wouldn’t be able to ride Cityscape in Dubai. He said, ‘I need to speak to the guys at Juddmonte, but I think there’s a good chance I can get you on the horse.’”

“I think it helped that I’d been in Dubai that winter and knew the track very well, but still, it was in the back of my mind that they’d want someone with a bit more experience at Group 1 level. So when Roger rang me back a couple of days later and said it was on, I was so excited.”

Roger Charlton and James Doyle
ROGER CHARLTON, JAMES DOYLE / The Curragh // 2015 /// Photo by Alan Crowhurst

Doyle’s first sit on Cityscape came when he flew back to the UK to ride the six-year-old in his final piece of strong work.

“I flew back from Dubai specifically to ride him. I remember he would have been the best horse by quite some margin that I’d sat on at that stage in my career. I just remember asking him to quicken up to the lead horse in the straight, and he drew up to the lead horse pretty easily. Then I asked him to go again, and he kind of quickened twice. I remember it vividly—it was the first time I’d ever felt a horse quicken twice like that. I wasn’t sure where that put him in the pecking order for a Group 1, but I knew he was a pretty special horse.”

The 2012 Dubai Duty Free Stakes featured an impressive lineup. Hong Kong had secured only one Group 1 win at the Dubai World Cup meeting before that year, but this time launched an all-out assault with Ambitious Dragon, California Memory and Xtension. Cityscape had narrowly missed his first Group 1 in Hong Kong last time out, finishing a neck behind Able One in the Hong Kong Mile after a wide trip.

Ambitious Dragon was the favourite, coming off consecutive wins in the Stewards’ Cup and a last-start win in the Hong Kong Gold Cup. Second favourite Mutahadee had finished third in the Jebel Hatta, while Japan’s Dark Shadow, the third favourite, was second in both the Tenno Sho Autumn and the Kyoto Kinen. Presvis made his fourth appearance in the race as the defending champion.

Doyle though felt quietly confident in Cityscape’s chances, even if a bit of naivety played a role.

“I guess I was a bit naive at that stage of my career because I didn’t quite know—I hadn’t experienced that calibre of horse or competition. I hadn’t ridden in those races, but I had loads of confidence going into it.

“I almost felt like he’d run a career-best because all the conditions were absolutely perfect for him: a flat track, a good surface, ground just slightly quicker than good. When we got the draw, we were drawn a little wide, but I remember thinking the horses I had to beat were real hold-up horses.”

With this in mind Doyle positioned Cityscape in a stalking position off Await The Dawn who led the field down the backstretch. But when that horse got a ‘flat tyre’ at the 600m mark, Doyle found himself all alone out in front as they swung for home. 

“I have to say at that stage I was a little bit worried until I pressed the button. When we balanced up and got into the straight, I really pressed the button and asked him to go in length. 

“Then I thought, if we’ve got a break on them, it will take a good one to run him down because he does stay that nine furlongs. He gets through the line very well over nine furlongs, and I felt we had an easy time of it.”

In the end Doyle and Cityscape left their rivals in the dust, charging home in a course-record time of 1:48.65, winning by over four lengths. Mutahadee claimed second, City Style in third, while Hong Kong’s three-pronged attack failed to make an impact.

Jacqueline just so happened to be there for her son’s first big-race success and even ran out onto the track to give him a hug—but it wasn’t just coincidence. A subtle nudge from Doyle had hinted that the trip might be worth her while.

“After I galloped Cityscape, I did mention that it might not be a bad idea to come. I’m not sure if he can win, but I’m sure he can run a good race. So yeah, she jumped on a plane and came out for it.” ∎

Andrew Le Jeune talks with the sport’s biggest names to discuss the one race that stands out in their memory. Jockeys, trainers, owners, broadcasters and officials all take a turn at recalling the stories behind their biggest racing moments on ‘The Race’.

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