Jockeys In Lockdown: Hayley Turner

With more time on their hands than usual, stars of the weighing-room past and present have been reflecting on memorable equine partners over the years. Today, HAYLEY TURNER is in the hot seat…

Best horse you've ridden?
The best horse I've ridden has to be Dream Ahead (Diktat {GB}). He made it so easy for me. Getting on him was the hardest part but actually winning the race was the easy bit. I'd never sat on him until the July Cup—that's how easy he was.

Favourite horse?
The horse I've had the most wins on is [27-time winner] Efistorm (GB) (Efisio {GB}), who was trained by Conor Dore. I think I won eight races on him and he's still at Conor's in retirement in the garden.

What are you up to while racing is off?
I've been riding out for Michael Bell and I feel quite lucky just to be able to get out in the fresh air. I've also been going out running, which is good for the mind.

With the recent talk that we might be back racing in a month or so it's important to keep fit and keep your weight in check. I think it's quite hard for jockeys because we're used to being busy all the time. My house is usually just a base but I go in and out of, with the rest of the time spent driving to the races, every day somewhere different. To be grounded in one place takes a bit of getting used to.

I've been using an app called House Party which allows you to chat with people in your contacts when they're online. I signed in the other day and George Wood was on there talking to David Probert and Charlie Bishop, so there were four of us all on the screen chatting to each other. It's quite a fun way to keep up to date with everyone now that we're not seeing each other at the races.