Born in Manchester on June 14, 1977, Darryll Holland rode his first winner on British soil, Sinclair Boy, trained by the late Barry Hills, to whom he was apprenticed, at Warwick on May 7, 1990. In that season, as whole, he rode 31 winners and in 1991 rode 83 winners to claim the apprentices’ title.
Holland rode on the Flat every season until 2013, riding over a hundred winners in six occasions, including four seasons running between 2001 and 2004. His most successful season on home soil came in 2003, when he rode 157 winners from 989 rides, at a strike rate of 16%, and amassed over £3.2 million in total prize money. He subsequently spent three years riding in South Korea, becoming the first European jockey to do so, before returning to Britain for a brief, abortive stint as stable jockey to Charlie Hills, son of Barry, in Lambourn in 2016.
The 2016 season yielded just 22 winners on British soil, including what proved to be the last of them, Dolphin Village, trained by Jane Chapple-Hyam, at Newmarket on July 30, 2016. Holland subsequently moved, briefly, back to South Korea, where he won the KRA Cup Mile, the first leg of the Korean Triple Crown, at Busan on Indian King, trained by Mun Je Bok, on April 2, 2017. Thereafter, he plied his trade, with mixed fortunes, in the United States and Canada, before taking his final ride at Woodbine, Toronto on November 21, 2020.
Holland retired from the saddle with 17 Group 1 winners to his name at home and abroad. Domestically, his career highlights included winning the Coral-Eclipse Stakes, Juddmonte International Stakes and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on Falbrav, trained by Luca Cumani, in 2003. He never won a British Classic, but went closer than most when the unheralded Dragon Dancer, trained by Geoff Wragg, who was sent off at 66/1, was just touched off by Sir Percy in the Derby in 2006.
