Whirlwhind year from Wolverhampton to Hong Kong for Leger heroine Osborne

Saffie Osborne’s season has turned from a difficult start in Wolverhampton to a high-profile debut in Hong Kong, with her riding under a six-week pre-Christmas contract. The 24-year-old began 10 months earlier on 6 January, trailing last aboard a 150-1 chance in a £7,000 race. Her climb included a top-10 finish in the Flat jockeys’ championship for a May-to-October title run, and her defining moment: a win on Highwayman in the St Leger in September, her first Group One and the first by a female jockey in a British Classic. That success helped the Hong Kong Jockey Club secure her contract, with 10 rides scheduled on an 11-race card at Sha Tin on Sunday.