Hayley Turner says she is proud to be a trailblazer for other female jockeys after riding her landmark 1,000th winner at Chelmsford on Tuesday.
The 40-year-old became the first female rider in the UK to reach the milestone with a comfortable victory on the David Simcock-trained Tradesman, over 23 years after riding her first winner on board Generate at Pontefract on June 4, 2000.
Turner has notched a string of other firsts over the years, including becoming the first female jockey to ride 100 winners in a calendar year in 2008 and the first woman to secure a Group One victory outright when she won the 2011 July Cup on Dream Ahead.
She is understandably proud of her achievements, but being a pioneer for the likes of Hollie Doyle, Saffie Osborne, Nicola Currie and Josephine Gordon is very high on the list.
I literally cannot believe how many messages I’ve had off everybody. It’s unbelievable. It’s sinking in. I’ve got today off to digest it all. It’s really a bit of a relief for me just to get it done because I’ve been going on about it for so long and I really did drag it out in the end.
“I never expected to do as well as I have done,” Turner told Sky Sports Racing as she reflected on her career on Wednesday morning.
“It’s certainly made the path easier for the girls coming through. I’ve always felt through the journey, I always get so much more publicity – like when I had 100 winners in a year, George Baker did it the week before and he got star performance in the Racing Post and then I did it and I’m on the front pages of national newspapers. It’s like ‘woah I didn’t really do anything different to him’.
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Jockey Luke Morris spoke of his delight after Turner rode her 1,000th winner
“I suppose having that mentality has helped me along the way. I’ve had 1,000 winners but look how many jockeys have had 1,000 winners and not had this sort of publicity.
“What I’m so proud of is seeing the standard of the girls riding now and the difference from when I began to now and how much easier it is for them. They are going to come through thick and fast now and it’s just great to see.”
‘I’ve no intention of retiring’
Nottinghamshire-born Turner announced her retirement from riding in the autumn of 2015 and the following year was made an OBE for services to horse racing in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.
She made a brief return to the saddle in the summer of 2016, initially to take part in the Shergar Cup, and later enjoyed a spell in France before confirming her intention to return to full-time race-riding on home soil in February of 2018.
Turner hopes to continue riding winners after reaching the landmark
Turner has since notched two Royal Ascot winners, on Thanks Be in 2019 and Docklands this year, and plans to carry on riding for the foreseeable future.
“I’ve no intention of retiring,” she added. “I’ve already done it once and I did last a bit longer than Frankie (Dettori). I was off for nearly two years and I did try a few different things but I just never got the buzz that I get when I’m race-riding.
“I’m going to name drop now, I got a message off Sir Alex Ferguson today saying, ‘don’t be retiring in a hurry, if you’re fit and you’re healthy and you’re still enjoying it keep going’, and I am.
“I look back at some of the replays of the horses I’ve won on and I feel like I’m riding better now than when I was then. I feel like I look stronger and whilst I’m still doing okay there’s no reason to stop.”
Hayley Turner: 1000
Following Hayley Turner’s 1,000th career victory, she joined Matt Chapman to discuss her life as a trailblazer for a generation of female jockeys – watch on Sky Sports Racing at 10.30pm on Wednesday and 9.30am on Thursday.