I lifted it for the whole industry says Hollie Doyle on her Spoty third

Record-breaking jockey Hollie Doyle on Monday said her honourable third place at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards on Sunday night was recognition for the whole of racing.

After enjoying unprecedented levels of success during the year, Doyle made the top three in one of sport's most prestigious competitions behind Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton, who won for a second time, and Liverpool Football Club captain Jordan Henderson in second place.

Doyle is the only one of the three to be thrust straight back into action after the ceremony and she made her way closer to the benchmark of 150 winners for the season at Lingfield on Monday. She is currently one away after riding Little Sunflower to victory in the 6f nursery for William Stone.

Speaking on the way to the track on Monday morning, Doyle said: "I couldn't believe I got in the top three and it was an honour to be nominated.

"Watching the videos of the other finalists, I thought I had absolutely no chance. When I went on to the stage with the two other guys I thought I'm going to look a right mushroom now, so when I got called out for third I was really surprised.

"It was weird being in a studio with no crowd, but I was quite nervous anyway so I don't know how I would have been with a crowd there. Maybe it was for the best."

She added: "I can't thank people enough for voting for me and getting me in that position. GBR Racing, in particular, did a big campaign over the past week or so and they didn't have to do that, I never asked them to.

"When I was there I felt as if I was representing racing not just myself and I feel I lifted the trophy for the whole industry."

The pride in Doyle's achievement has been expressed across racing. Champion jumps trainer Nicky Henderson said on Monday: "Racing is doing very well at the moment under the circumstances and Hollie has done brilliantly.

"To get recognised on that stage at the height of all sports is something special. Racing should be very proud of her and what she achieved last night. It can only be good for her and good for the game."

Sir Anthony McCoy remains the only jockey to have won Sports Personality of the Year since it was launched in 1954, but Doyle matched the feat of the 20-time champion jump jockey and Frankie Dettori in finishing in the top three, which McCoy did in 2013 and 2002 while Dettori was honoured in that spot following his 'Magnificent Seven' in 1996.

The 24-year-old may have tasted defeat, but her trailblazing records and achievements from this year were recognised by her racing colleagues and the legendary McCoy, who believes they will be a benchmark to Doyle becoming champion jockey in the future.

"She's a worker, she's a grafter, she puts in the hard hours which it is all about to try and get to the top. Her stats are phenomenal," he said. "She's top class, she's got it all. Having watched Hollie Doyle over the last year, there is a real chance she will be champion jockey one day."

Her other racing colleagues also praised Doyle's fantastic achievements in a fitting tribute that was broadcast at the ceremony, which was staged in the BBC studios in Salford in front of a virtual crowd due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sir Anthony McCoy: 'She will be champion jockey one day'Credit: Jan Kruger

Fellow jockey Hayley Turner was "proud" of Doyle's unprecedented success and, speaking about when Doyle became the first female jockey to ride a five-timer at a meeting in Britain at Windsor in August, she said: "Having five winners in a day is not a fluke, it's her class, her style and her strength that has got her there.

"I don't think anything she does now will surprise anyone again, because she raises the bar every day and she makes me very proud, and I know there's so much more to come as well."

Doyle attended the ceremony with partner and fellow jockey Tom Marquand and he was proud of how she has banished the stereotypes around female jockeys into history.

He added: "She's now physically stronger than most of the weighing room, it's been one of the main differences in her riding. She's not broken down barriers of female jockeys getting success, she's broken down barriers of everyone thinking a female can't have success within racing, which is nothing short of exceptional."

The #VoteHollie social media campaign took the racing world by storm last week, with 'Vote Hollie' hats a regular sight on racegoers and those in the industryCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

A #VoteHollie social media campaign took the racing world by storm earlier this week and the support for Doyle saw her odds tumble to second favouritism before the awards ceremony, having been a 25-1 outsider at the start of the week, while 'Vote Hollie' hats, banners and cardboard cutouts of her were a regular sight at racecourses across the country.

Doyle's Sports Personality of the Year nomination came off the back of a remarkable season for the jockey, which has been filled with records being broken and plenty of awards already.

She has enjoyed an unprecedented amount of success on the track, which included smashing her own record for wins in a calendar year by a female jockey, while she enjoyed a memorable double on Qipco British Champions Day, which was headlined by her first Group 1 victory aboard Glen Shiel in the British Champions Sprint.

Watch: Hollie Doyle's first Group 1 victory on Glen Shiel

Doyle, who finished fourth in this year's Flat jockeys' championship, also rode her first Royal Ascot winner during the 2020 season alongside her remarkable five-timer at Windsor during the summer.

Her achievements have not stopped since the end of the Flat season as she beat some of the best riders in the world when becoming the first female jockey to win a race at the historic Hong Kong International Jockeys' Meeting this month. Her winning streak continued 24 hours before the awards ceremony after she rode a winner at Deauville for her boss Archie Watson.

Her successes have led to her already being showered with awards and she became the first jockey in history to be crowned the Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year for 2020, while she is nominated for four Lesters Awards, including for Flat Jockey of the Year, which will be broadcast on Sky Sports Racing on December 22.

Hollie Doyle: nominated for four Lesters awards on December 22Credit: Alan Crowhurst

As well as Hamilton and Henderson, the other nominees for the award were boxer Tyson Fury, cricketer Stuart Broad and snooker player and world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan.

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