Buonarroti can bring Hayley Turner full circle with farewell victory

Britain’s most successful and inspirational female Flat jockey signs off her 15-year career at Doncaster’s season finale

Hayley Turner is all smiles on board Elusivity at Nottingham this week (Rex)

At the end of a week in which Michelle Payne’s historic Melbourne Cup victory showcased the achievements and difficulties of women riders, the spotlight turns on Hayley Turner, as Britain’s most successful and inspirational female Flat jockey signs off her 15-year career at Doncaster’s season finale.

As the first of her sex to be champion apprentice, the first to ride 100 winners in a season, the first to win a Group One contest outright, Turner’s place in racing history is sealed.

Then there are the 763 wins with £6.5m in prize-money. But behind all the impressive stats and accomplishments is a tough, talented rider with a fierce will to win, which is why, rather than resting on her laurels, Turner will be seeking out another prize or two this afternoon.

At the outset, this daughter of a riding instructor had no grand ambitions; one good thing simply led to another. “I’ve massively exceeded my expectations,” she said. But in the end, the drudgery of endless travelling and the lure of pastures new combined to persuade Turner to get out while still only 32.

Leading the women’s team to a first Shergar Cup triumph at Ascot in August was another proud achievement. “That was a big step forward for the girls, as was Michelle Payne winning the Melbourne Cup,” said Turner. “Yes, I was cheering her home.”

While Payne used her victory speech to protest about women jockeys not getting a “fair go” in Australia, during the last five years of her career Turner has ridden for no fewer than 253 different trainers, 220 of them male.

“It’s not a girl thing. Trainers and owners want a good jockey whether they’re male or female,” she told The Independent on Sunday recently. “They’re not sexist. But generally the girls aren’t good enough.”

Turner’s first ride was for Declan Carroll, and her last will be for the same trainer, aboard Buonarroti, in Doncaster’s centrepiece, the November Handicap. At first glance, it would appear to be merely a sentimental farewell to tie everything up in a neat bow; this Aidan O’Brien cast-off has not won in 13 tries spanning more than two years.

But though certainly not the horse he promised to be when running creditably in the 2013 Racing Post Trophy, Buonarroti has shown enough for Carroll to suggest he can be a big player in a race like this. Last time, he finished a close fifth at Town Moor behind Argus, the big-race favourite until ruled out yesterday.

Furthermore, this will be the first time Buonarroti has encountered proper soft ground all season and he appeared to revel in it when trained at Ballydoyle. This is an outsider with a live chance of producing the perfect happy ending.

Carroll has yet to provide Turner with a winner, but is hopeful of changing that at the very last. “What a fairy tale that would be – and the horse is coming to hand nicely,” he reported.

Turner has four other chances of going out with a bang, perhaps the most likely and most fitting being in the race named in her honour, the Good Luck Hayley Turner Handicap. Hillbilly Boy ticks the boxes, running into top form with conditions ideal.

Simonsig, sidelined with various niggles since gaining the second of his Cheltenham Festival triumphs in the 2013 Arkle Trophy, makes his long-awaited return in the Betfair Hurdle at Aintree, where John Ferguson’s smart Purple Bay might prove too sharp.