Turner Reaches Century of Wins in Style

Hayley Turner became the first British woman jockey to ride a hundred winners in a calendar year when she pushed a rapidly tiring two-year-old named Mullitovermaurice over the line to victory in a humble claiming race under the lights at Wolverhampton.

The manner in which the 25-year-old Turner posted her century aptly summed up her remarkable season – fitness and strength in the finish, allied to the sort of dedication that drove her up the motorway to the Midlands on a freezing night after riding winner No99 in the afternoon all-weather meeting at Lingfield.

Before travelling north to Wolverhampton she had admitted she was "ready for a break" after riding her 99th winner of the year on Newlyn Art at Lingfield.

Only the fourth woman in Britain to ride out her apprentice claim, following Alex Greaves, Emma O'Gorman and Lisa Jones, Turner will sign off the year at Lingfield today with new targets already in mind for 2009. "The aim is to ride better horses in better races," she said.

Turner, 25, had set herself a target of 70 winners this year but hard work and determination, plus a good job done by her agent, Guy Jewell, has taken her to a new level. "Things have been building up nicely," she says. "Riding so much, my fitness has improved and you learn a lot through trial and error."

With her upper-body strength evident in tight finishes, Turner loses nothing against her weighing-room colleagues, male or female, in the heat of battle. She was named one of the "top 10 riders in the country" by the trainer Marcus Tregoning after she had ridden Taameer to victory for the stable at Newbury in September.

Owned by Hamdan Al Maktoum, Taameer is rated a Classic prospect for next year. "I suppose that was an important win," she says. "But winning a valuable handicap on Furnace at Ascot was great and being made captain of the Great Britain team in the Shergar Cup was an honor."

Furnace is trained by Michael Bell, who provided Turner with 24 of the 58 winners she rode in the Flat jockeys' championship which runs from March to November. "He [Bell] has been a great supporter, giving me good rides," said Turner, who is quoted at 33-1 with Hill's to win next year's title in betting without the champion, Ryan Moore, and is the same price to ride a Classic winner in 2009.

Kevin Darley, a former champion Flat jockey now working for the Professional Jockeys' Association, has no doubt that Turner has what it takes to reach the highest level. "She just needs a lucky break, one good horse," he says. "Hayley's confidence is high and she is as strong as anyone. I put her among the top 10 riders and believe she will be there for some time."

Turner's victory on Gee Dee Nen in a Shergar Cup race stands out for Darley. "When she got up close home to win by a head she showed all the core strength that comes with experience. In the past it has been difficult for women jockeys to get so many rides and what Hayley has done is a tremendous achievement. She's an inspiration to any rider, male or female.

"In a finish you can't pick her out as anything other than a strong rider. When I talk to apprentices at the British Racing School I tell them it's all about fitness. Hayley has got where she is by hard graft."