Hollie Doyle says her nomination for BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2020 can only be good for horse racing.
The 24-year-old has enjoyed an historic campaign, riding her maiden Royal Ascot winner when piloting Scarlet Dragon to victory in July‘s Duke of Edinburgh Stakes.
Doyle further improved to become the first female jockey to win five races on the same card in Britain at Windsor in August before capturing her first Group 1 aboard Glen Shiel in October’s British Champions Sprint at Ascot in October.
That was part of a brilliant double on Champions Day after also riding Trueshan to glory in the Long Distance Cup, wins that contributed to her finishing fourth in the Flat Jockeys’ Championship, the best ever by a female rider.
The accolades continued to flow her way on Tuesday when she was nominated alongside the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Jordan Henderson and Ronnie O’Sullivan for Sports Personality of the Year, the winner of which will be announced on December 20.
The pioneering rider admits it is an honour to have been included amongst such sporting royalty and hopes her recognition can further boost racing’s standing in the nation’s sporting conscience.
“It’s a huge privilege to be nominated for such an illustrious award,” Doyle said. “It’s hard to get my head around being nominated alongside the likes of Lewis Hamilton, but I’m really pleased that horseracing has been recognised alongside these sports.
“Racing can be in its own little bubble, as such, so hopefully this might help to open the door to a wider audience.”
