The turf
Pocket sensation
Robin Oakley
Joining jockey Paul Doe for breakfast at Clear Height Stables in Epsom, I had imagined he might, like most riders I know, toy with a slice of dry toast and sip a black coffee. Not a bit of it. Paul matched me mouthful by mouthful through the full works — eggs, bacon, sausages, fried bread, baked beans, mushrooms.
Paul's regular employer Simon Dow, who had him to stay for a couple of years, says that his former apprentice kept the local Domino's Pizza branch going. I don't know where he puts it all, because Paul Doe has the usual jockey's sucked-in cheeks and lean frame. But then he was such a tiny baby that they used to lie him in a shoe box by the Aga. And perhaps it is because he can eat so normally while riding without any bother at 7st 101b that Paul Doe is stronger than most of his contemporaries, a precious asset when helping to persuade a tired horse to last home.
At what is the crucial stage in many a jockey's career, his first full season without an apprentice's allowance, Paul Doe is making the grade. Many a star apprentice hailed as a future champion has disappeared without trace in the next couple of years once the 31b allowance which attracted trainers trying to get a few pounds off their horse's back has gone and the next pocket sensation has been adopted by the media. Riders as talented as Royston French and Carl Lowther have suffered. But Paul Doe is coming through, with 26 winners already this season and rides for the likes of Brian Meehan and Peter Harris, partly because, says Simon Dow, 'he has been a student in the school of life since day one'.
His mother left the scene early in his childhood and he was brought up by a devoted father with a build better suited to the heavyweight boxing ring than to the saddle. He began his career at 15 with Lady Ferries. But though he pays tribute to her, not least for sending him to Australia for a spell to work with Billy Mitchell at Randwick, Paul Doe was wise enough to reckon that he needed to move on. He was not getting many rides 'and I was becoming part of the furniture. I needed to grow up.'
So he headed for Epsom and the successful association with Simon Dow, riding Eden Heights, one of his favourites, to victory on his first leg-up for the new yard. Gradually he has become a fixture too with other Epsom trainers, such as John Akehurst, for whom he rode Marsad to success in the valuable Ladbrokes Handicap at Newmarket in May. His knowledge of the Epsom course, which many jockeys find tricky, has come in handy for others too. He took the Stanley Racing Great Metropolitan for R.J. Price on Spring Pursuit, a horse who has to be held up for a late swoop. 'You've got to know the track,' he says, 'but you've got to have a horse who goes on it too.'
Watching him on the racecourse and noting the set of his jaw off it, determination is a prime characteristic. This is a grafter. Trainers say that he comes back after a knock, if he makes a mistake and they bollock him. 'You must learn by your mistakes,' Paul says. 'You've got to be dedicated and you've got to learn something from every race.' He watches endless race videos, not just looking at his own rides but those of all the other jockeys too. He likes riding fast horses: 'I love a good sprinter, something that can travel and has a nice turn of foot.' But he enjoys the tactical battles in the longer races too. 'You've just got to follow Kieran (Fallon) in the tactical races. He's brilliant.'
Not so long ago, he says, he was reading everything he could find about people like Fallon and Frankie Dettori. 'They're your heroes. Then the next day you're out there riding against them having them cursing and shouting at you.' Paul Doe clearly hasn't been worried by the experience. He has learned enough from his career so far to be driving a hefty Mercedes with the number plate P1 DOE. Simon Dow says his jockey, whom he regards as `part of the family', has 'all the qualities to be top class, but he needs plenty of support. It's hard to get there only riding handicappers.'
Perhaps the fact that he is now riding out too for John Dunlop will help to bring along some of the quality horses he needs for the next stage in his career. Last week I wrote about Chris Catlin, this year's apprentice star. I had noted his double at the last Epsom meeting and he scored another pair there on Saturday. One victory was on Forgotten Times, at 14-1 the best-value bet of the meeting, given that she had dropped in the handicap and had won the same sprint race over the Epsom five furlongs the year before. It was a welcome tonic for owner John Crook, just out of hospital after a heart-attack scare the weekend before. I am only surprised he didn't have another as the Ken Ivorytrained filly hung on by a fast-diminishing short head.
John bought his first horse, Masbro Bird, on impulse at the Ascot sales. There wasn't even a piece of string in the box to lead it home so Philip Mitchell took it home for him to give it a trial. After Philip and Simon Dow and Buck Jones had all had a go and told him it was useless, John sold off his unfortunate purchase at a loss. But he had so much enjoyed the whole racing experience that he had another go. And Forgotten Times has now won him a dozen races, six of them in one year. You simply would not find a jollier party than he brought to the races. I hope the mare wins him many more.
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