HAYLEY TURNER was hoping to bow out on a high yesterday after confirming she will retire from the saddle at the end of the season.

The 32-year-old is the most successful female rider in British racing history having recorded a landmark success when steering the David Simcock-trained Dream Ahead to victory in the July Cup at Newmarket in 2011, becoming the first woman to secure a Group One victory outright.

She then followed up with another top-level success aboard Margot Did in the Nunthorpe Stakes later that summer, while Simcock supplied Turner with a Grade One win on I’m A Dreamer in the Beverly D. Stakes of 2012.

However, Turner feels the time is right to call a halt to her riding days and she is now eager to embrace a life outside of the weighing room.

She said: “I have loved every second of my career as a jockey and I am incredibly grateful to all those that have supported me over the years especially my agent, Guy Jewell, Michael Bell, Conor Dore and James Fanshawe.

“I am really excited to be starting a new chapter in my life and am very much looking forward to the new challenges ahead.

“I will continue to stay as focused as ever on my riding until the end of this season and will be hoping to ride as many winners as possible until then.”

Speaking to At The Races, who she will be working for in the future, Turner said: “I’ve done an awful lot over the last the last 15 years and I just feel ready to get my teeth stuck into something new.

“I think I first started to think about it at the Derby meeting in June when I had a meeting with Johnno Spence [her manager].

“I’ve loved every minute and I feel like it is the right time. I’ve made the decision myself.

“I’m particularly pleased with how this season has gone. Last season was a steady one after my injury, it took longer to get going, but this year I feel back to my best and ready to leave on a high.”