Hollie Doyle interview: It is ridiculous jockeys cannot use saunas to make weight

Telegraph

18-06-2025

Hollie Doyle became the most successful female British Flat jockey in May when she rode her 1,023rd winner, surpassing the previous best held by the recently retired Hayley Turner. Here the 28-year-old talks clocking up miles in the car, pony rallies and taking ice baths…
Who is the person you'd most like to meet, dead or alive?
Sir Henry Cecil. He was a fascinating character and great trainer. He was very intuitive with his horses. I'd love to have been on the scene when he was training and, even better, to have ridden for him. He'd be a bit similar to Sir Michael Stoute, I imagine, just fascinating.
Describe yourself in three words.
Determined, small, resilient.
What is your dream three-course meal and dinner guests?
Starters would be scallops, the main would be steak and jam roly-poly for pudding. I'd invite Tom [Marquand, husband and a fellow jockey], Jonny Wilkinson, Jessica Ennis-Hill and Lester Piggott.
If you could have one superpower, what would it be?
I'd like to fly so I don't have to drive everywhere and get stuck in traffic every day. I do a lot of miles. I bought my car, a BMW 5 Series, two-and-a-half years ago with 4,000 miles on the clock. It's done nearly 150,000 now and I haven't been here during the winters.
What is the one rule you would like to change in your sport?
Even though I don't need to use one, I'd bring back saunas [jockeys used them to make weight but they were banned from racecourses in 2021]. It's hard to watch everyone, including Tom, suffering every day and not being able to go and lose a pound or two. Sometimes they will have driven four hours and they have to run round the track. We have one at home. It's ridiculous not being able to use them in a sport where you have to make a weight.
What is your worst habit?
Not being able to switch off and always being on the go, always doing something. I don't relax, I need to be doing something the whole time or be thinking about something. I don't even think I switch off when I'm asleep, to be honest.
What is your most embarrassing moment?
I ended up carrying a bottle of shampoo into the paddock instead of my stick once. I drove up to Carlisle after riding out six lots when I was a 7lb claimer. I was so tired I couldn't even see straight. I walked into the paddock and it was only when I went to shake the owner's hand that I noticed. I had to rush back to the weighing room and change it.
If you could switch lives with anyone in the world for a day, who would it be?
I'd like to switch lives with [jockey] Ryan Moore on one of the days at Royal Ascot.
What is your favourite childhood memory?
Probably going to the Radnor and West Hereford Pony Club rallies once a week on my pony Jerry in the summer, falling off and not giving a care; getting milled and then getting up smiling.
If you could go on any reality TV show, what would it be?
I'm a Celebrity… Even though I don't consider myself a celebrity.
Do you prefer a night in or a night out?
A night in on my own being able to eat what I want and watch what I want on the television. Tom has the controls when he's there so, obviously, it's why I'd be on my own.
What is the best concert you have been to?
I've only been to two, Eminem and Coldplay, and I think Eminem was better.
What is your karaoke song?
Amy Winehouse's Valerie.
What is the most ridiculous thing you have ever bought?
I'm not sure whether it's the most ridiculous or the most practical. Tom bought me a robot hoover floor cleaner. I'm really bad about any dirt and dust about the house so this goes all day when I'm not there and everything's clean when I get home. It's perfect. You probably couldn't get a better present for me.
If you had a time machine, would you go back in time or go to the future?
I'd go back to see people and family who have died.
What is the best advice you have ever received?
Be seen and not heard. From my father.
What has been your favourite holiday?
Skiing. We went in Japan once a couple of years ago when we were both riding out there one winter and the snow was unreal. It was up to my neck. The only trouble was that it was -20, which took the edge off it a bit. We didn't go this year, which was a pity, but we try to go most years.
What is the best book you have ever read? And what is your favourite TV show?
I'm not a huge reading fan, the occasional autobiography, but I like Yellowstone, the US television series about a family of cattle ranchers and the dramas in their lives.
If you were not a sportsperson, what would you be doing?
A vet working with horses. If the qualifications were a problem, I'd probably be a personal trainer. I do something in the gym every day and I do weights three times a week. We have a gym at our new house along with an ice bath, hot tub and sauna. I do a maximum three minutes most days in the ice bath, Tom does up to 10 minutes.