DON'T ever be fooled by the pleasant nature of jockey husband-wife combination Tom Marquand and Hollie Doyle – they are tough as nails.
Personality is an odd thing. Many times in racing I’ve heard someone say that he or she is ‘too nice’ to make it to the top as a rider.
Marquand and Doyle show that’s utter nonsense.
Marquand recently returned from a horrible injury to land the Group 1 Longines Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Randwick for William Haggas.
The success was not only tactically brilliant, but was also much down to the determination of the winning rider who had returned from a horrific fall.
A truly horrible tumble which had left him in hospital with a dislocation of his sternoclavicular joint which required a nasty operation.
Marquand is nice. That’s an adjective writers rarely use.
But in his case it’s exactly what he is.
Marquand is also rock hard. He is competitive, he wants to win, he takes no prisoners, and he’s tough as nails. He’s also determined.
I’m sure he would love to be champion jockey. And one day he might well be.
As many of you will know, Haggas is married to Lester Piggott’s daughter Maureen.
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They have a pretty good idea at what makes a world-class jockey.
If they think Marquand is top notch that all you need to be told.
Doyle is exactly in the same mode. She is a pocket rocket who mostly has a smile on her face and is always charming.
She also came back from injury recently, and banged in a big success up at Newcastle with Rainbow Dreamer for Alan King.
In the saddle Doyle is as strong as an ox. And she has all of Marquand’s attributes.
Nice people can be champions. Fact.
Davy Russell is different to Marquand and Doyle. Don't get me wrong, Davy has charm.
But you sit next to Davy, and you see the toughness without having to watch him on horseback.
Russell finally retired for good at Aintree on Saturday. I'm going to miss him massively.
I used to describe him as the jockey who would be the main character in a Dick Francis novel, and I always meant that in a thoroughly positive way.
Because that is what Russell has always been, a right or character.
It was the reason why everyone always wanted Davy on a Cheltenham Festival preview panel. He was always gold.
It was also why many wanted him on their pride and joy. Russell created magic in the saddle.
What is easy to forget is that Russell had some horrific injuries along the way.
He had the toughness to come back time and time again.
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Basically that finally took its toll, but he will always go down as a magic man in the saddle.
Thank you for everything, Davy.
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