Back in the summer of 2006 a low-profile teenage jockey stopped briefly at The Pheasant pub outside Lambourn, having agreed to give a lift to the races to an unknown teenage jockey who had neither car nor driver’s licence. James Doyle and William Buick, who became friends as the miles rolled by, were setting out on a journey that has taken both to the very top of their sport. On Saturday they will ride the two favourites for Ascot’s King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
“It’s funny,” Doyle reflects. “Who would have known…?” The pair, now 30, have risen through the ranks together. Buick was the more precocious but Doyle’s talent also became hard to miss and in 2014 the pair were hired simultaneously by the mighty Godolphin organisation.
Written by Chris Cook
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/jul/25/theres-no-leeway-given-we-want-ride-winners under the title “‘There’s no leeway given. We both want to ride winners in King George’ | Chris Cook”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
