Hayley Turner

Hayley Turner (born 3 January 1983) is a retired English jockey who competed in flat racing. Originally from Nottingham, she was based in Newmarket for much of her career.

In 2008 Turner became the first woman to ride 100 UK flat race winners during a calendar year. She went on to win eight Group races, including two Group 1 races and a Grade 1 race. She retired from racing in 2015 and became a regular contributor to ITV Racing. She came out of retirement in 2018 and since then has ridden four winners at Royal Ascot. She rode her 1,000th winner in Great Britain in July 2024. She retired in April 2025.

Background

Turner was born two miles from Nottingham Racecourse in north Nottinghamshire, one of six daughters of Kate and Richard Turner. Her mother was a riding instructor and she learnt to ride at an early age. She later rode out for local trainer Mark Polglase and attended a course at the Northern Racing College before becoming apprenticed to Michael Bell at Newmarket, Suffolk.

2012 saw Turner ride 92 winners, her second-best season, at a strike rate of 12%, also a career second-best. She regained her jockey's licence to ride in the Shergar Cup team event at Ascot in August 2016. In January 2017 she became part of the newly-formed ITV Racing team. Later that year she rode regularly in France, where a 2 kg weight allowance for female jockeys had been introduced. In December 2017, Turner faced a British Horseracing Authority disciplinary panel when it emerged that she had opened an on-line betting account on her retirement and placed modest bets even though she still held a jockey's licence, which was a breach of racing rules. The panel suspended her licence for three months, acknowledging that the nature of her betting was no threat to the sport's integrity. After the suspension came to an end, Turner returned to regular race riding, with 44 winners in Britain 2018.

In November 2023 Turner rode her 1,000th worldwide winner, becoming the first female jockey in Europe to do so. She achieved her 1,000th British win in July 2024.

By 2023, Turner had competed in the Shergar Cup a record sixteen times, twice winning the silver saddle as the leading jockey at the meeting (2018 and 2019). In 2024, she captained the Ladies team to victory and again won the silver saddle.

Turner announced her pregnancy and immediate retirement in April 2025.

Honours

Turner was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to horse racing.

Personal life

Turner lives near Newmarket. She has coeliac disease and follows a gluten-free diet.