HAYLEY TURNER ON HER BIG NEWS AND ANOTHER WINNER: It’s been quite an eventful 7 days for me in so many ways having been to Japan and back, rode a winner there, rode a winner yesterday and I made quite a big announcement on Tuesday as well.
The week has been hectic for me even though I haven’t been racing much, although I rode a nice winner at Chelmsford yesterday for Marcus Tregoning, on a horse I made note of here a few weeks back, Castle Combe. More about that later on.
GOING TO DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT
So, as many of you will have seen, I made the big decision this week that I would stop race riding at the end of the season. A lot of the media are saying that I’m retiring but, I’m only 32! This is definitely not a retirement. This is just a change in direction for me.
I absolutely love riding and I love being a jockey but the thing about is that it’s quite a consuming profession. You need to be able to give 100% all of the time and it leaves you with very little time for anything else and that is really the main factor in my decision. I just don’t feel that I have the hunger for it anymore.
I will say though that I’m not closing the door completely on Racing right now.
Throughout my career, I have achieved a lot. I rode Group 1 winners, big Handicap winners, winners around Europe,
a Group 1 in America and now a winner in Japan. The reward for doing it all again just isn’t there for me anymore.
Being a jockey is a great job to have but there is a lot more to it than just turning up at the race course and riding in a race. So much time is spent driving from race track to race track, to all the yards to ride work. There’s a lot of keeping people happy as well and it’s hard to take time off.
There is a lot for me to look forward to between now and the end of the season. I’ve ridden over 40 winners so far this year and I hope to build on that tally before I finish up. Also, after Doncaster, I’ve been invited to South Africa’s version of the World All Star Jockey’s Championship and that is really exciting to be going there in November.
I have a lot planned for when I do stop riding and who knows what will happen between now and the next flat season. For now though, I’m not retiring, I’m just changing jobs for a while.
CASTLE COMBE WAS A GOOD WINNER LAST NIGHT
After I rode Castle Combe in Kempton a few weeks ago, I made note that there was a win in him. That came last night at Chelmsford and he did quite nicely as well.
He seems to love the All Weather and everything went right for him yesterday. They went a good gallop early on so I was able to put him out the back and switch him off easily and then just come through the pack when the time was right.
I usually prefer when horses are running from top weight rather than the bottom because it means that they are within their level. Generally horses at the bottom of the handicap are stepping up in class and sometimes things can be a little rushed for them.
In the end, he won nicely enough and there should be a bit more to come from him.
HOPING FOR LUCK ON SPIRIT RAISER
Tomorrow is a good day at Kempton and I’m really looking forward to getting back on Spirit Raiser in the final of the London Mile Series.
He’s a fairly uncomplicated ride but there’s a big field in it so I’ll need some luck in running. The interesting thing is
that James Fanshawe’s horses always run really well around Kempton for some reason. He’s got a great strike rate there of 22% with 64 winners from 258 runners, so I’m hoping for the best.
I also have a good ride in the first race tomorrow on Arab Dawm. He’s a nice sort who always runs a good race but Jack Hobbs is obviously going to be difficult to beat. We’ll be trying our best though and stranger things have happened!
Today, I’m making the long trip up north to Newcastle and I’ve got some decent rides there.
I start off with one for Sir Michael Stoute called Onda District. I haven’t ridden it before but I spoke to Sir Michael this morning about it and he’s thinks he’ll run well. He’s been a little green so far but is expected to improve.
It’s nice to have a ride for Sir Michael. He’s a great trainer and he’s always very easy to ride for. Usually, he just says to ride it as you find it, which makes my job a lot easier.
I also ride A Little Bit Dusty for Conor Dore. He won last time out over Hurdles but he’ll go well on today’s ground and trip and is as effective on the flat. He runs today off a mark of 62 so I’d be expecting him to be competitive off that mark.
I also ride Tancred for Conor a little later on. You can put a line through his last run at Brighton. Nothing went right for him that day so I’m hopeful of a better run. He’s at the top of the weights and like I said before, that’s how I prefer them to be.
NICE INVITE FOR MONDAY
On Monday, I’m travelling to London to attend the Magnificent Seven event that’s organised by Seb Coe. It’s basically where they invite from different sports industries to come together for an evening in London.
I’ve been invited and am attending on behalf of Horse Racing. It’s really nice to be invited to something like this and it’s great to be representing racing.
Along with the racing next week, that’s another great thing to look forward to.
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