Sept 12 (Reuters) – Saffie Osborne rode Highwayman to victory in the St Leger Stakes at Doncaster on Saturday to make history as the first female jockey to win one of the five Classic races of British flat racing.
The win on the 11-1 chance came on the 250th anniversary of the oldest flat race in the world, first run in 1776, and the final Classic of the season.
Winning trainer Joseph O’Brien celebrated a one-two with Enceladus (5-2) coming in second, two-and-a-half lengths behind. Amelia Earhart, 22-1, was third in front of a 30,000-strong crowd.
“I definitely didn’t have this on the bingo card this week,” Osborne told ITV Sport. “I didn’t have a ride in the Leger this time last week.”
“I have to thank Joseph and his team for putting their faith in me. It won’t change Joseph’s life but it’s changed mine,” added Osborne, whose father is former top National Hunt jockey Jamie Osborne.
The other Classics — Group One races restricted to three-year-old horses — are the 1,000 Guineas and 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket and the Oaks and Derby at Epsom.
Ireland’s former National Hunt jockey Rachael Blackmore was the first woman to win the Grand National in 2021, with Minella Times, and was lead jockey at the Cheltenham Festival that same year.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin; editing by Clare Fallon)
