Robin Oakley

Tom Marquand was the star of Goodwood

Tom Marquand on long-striding Quickthorn, who led all the way to win the Goodwood Cup. Credit: Photo by Alan Crowhurst/Getty Images 
issue 12 August 2023

On no course in Britain does jockeyship count for more than at undulating, tricksy Goodwood and although Frankie Dettori was able, on his final appearance there, to treat the expectant crowd to a couple of flying dismounts after victories on Epictetus and Kinross, the week’s top rider was clearly Tom Marquand. One racing sage told me during the week, ‘Racing will desperately need another Frankie to engage the public’s attention’ – and when I proffered Tom and his wife Hollie Doyle as a twosome who could do so together, the rejoinder was: ‘Of course Tom’s got the ability but he’s just too nice.’ He meant that you simply couldn’t imagine Tom Marquand winning headlines by stealing another jockey’s whip mid-race like Lester Piggott or scrumping a trainer’s cigars.

What we saw from Tom Marquand at Goodwood was a masterclass in opportunism, timing and courage

But what we did see from Marquand T.

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