TRAILBLAZING jockey Hayley Turner rode the 1,000th winner of her career at Chelmsford last night.
But she has no plans to call it a day and will continue riding for the foreseeable future.
Hayley Turner reached a major milestone at Chelmsford on Tuesday nightGetty Images – Getty
Turner, 40, made history in 2011 when she became the first female jockey to ride a Group 1 winner outright in Britain, with Alex Greaves having previously dead-heated for first place in the 1997 Nunthorpe.
She partnered star sprinter Dream Ahead to win the July Cup at odds of 7-1 at Newmarket for trainer David Simcock.
She was also the first female jock to ride 100 winners in a season in 2008, reaching the milestone with victory at Wolverhampton on December 30.
She has had to wait nearly three weeks to get over the line, having been stuck on 999 winner since November 4.
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But last night she finally reached four figures when steering home 9-4 favourite Tradesman – in the same colours of Dream Ahead’s owner Khalifa Dasmal – to win the two-mile handicap.
She was given a guard of honour and round of applause by her fellow jocks after the race.
She said: “I’m chuffed and relieved. Although it’s taken me 20 years to do it, it will probably take the girls behind me half the time.
“I did drag it out a little bit and made a mountain out of a molehill but I got there eventually! It took me plenty of time.
“It’s nice to see the progression from when I started to now, when you look at the girls like Hollie Doyle, Nicola Currie, Saffie Osborne and Josephine Gordon all riding so well everyday.
“It makes me very proud when I think I may have played a very small part in the success of their careers.”
Earlier this year, Turner, who is a regular contributor on ITV Racing’s Flat coverage, revealed her ordeal at being bombarded with letters and even drugs from a stalker in prison.
Happily, she has put that behind her and can look to the future with the 1,000 under her belt.
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