Hayley Turner Reaches 1000 Winners at Chelmsford

On Tuesday evening, Britain’s most successful female jockey Hayley Turner became the first woman in Europe to ride 1,000 winners reaching her landmark at Chelmsford City Racecourse.

Riding the favourite Tradesman for David Simcock and Khalifa Dasmal, Hayley made it look easy in the end when steering the four-year-old home skillfully over the two miles to win the Illuminate Christmas Ball Handicap by a length and three-quarters.

 Speaking about the race after her historic victory, Hayley said “he’s such a nice horse to ride, I had to ride him with confidence, although I doubt everyone who backed him had the same confidence given where he was, he just likes being smuggled in and he’s done it easy again.” 

 Hayley received a rapturous response as she was led back into the winner’s enclosure with all her fellow jockeys coming out from the weighing room to give her a standing ovation.

 On the reception from her fellow Jockeys Hayley added, “How nice was that, it’s really special, it means a lot” 

 Speaking about reaching her 1000 race win on Racing TV, she said: “I did drag it out a little bit but I got there eventually. It’s taken me plenty of time, and it’s nice to see the girls coming through behind me that are up and coming, the likes of Hollie (Doyle), Saffie (Osborne), Nicola (Currie) and Josephine (Gordon) all riding so well every day. Although it’s taken me 20 years to do it, hopefully, it will take them half the time.” 

 Hayley added: “It feels like a bit of a relief now that I’ve done it. I’m chuffed now.”

Hayley has long been a trailblazer in British racing. She was the first woman to ride 100 winners in a year in Britain and also the first to win a Group 1 race outright. That victory on Dream Ahead in the July Cup of 2011 came in the same colours of Khalifa Dasmal as her 1,000th winner. She has also won the Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes on Margot Did, and in America landed the Grade 1 Beverly D Stakes with I’m A Dreamer. In 2016, she was awarded an OBE by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for services to horseracing.

The whole team at Chelmsford City Racecourse sends hearty congratulations to Hayley on her groundbreaking success, and we look forward to welcoming her back to the track very soon.