The rising star jockey has ridden 23 winners during August and September but may now have to sit out what remains of the 2025 Flat turf campaign
Saffie Osborne has suffered an untimely injury just as her season had taken a significant turn for the better. The 23-year-old talent rode a double on Tuesday night at Wolverhampton to take her score to 46 winners of £1.2 million in prize-money for 2025.
But she has not ridden since after being forced to give up all her immediate booked mounts, including at Ayr on Thursday, the opening day of the Western meeting, following a fall later on the card at the Dunstall Park track. She was unseated from her mount Savalas on the way to the start, sustaining a knee injury and was stood down by the racecourse doctor.
Osborne spent most of the 2024-25 winter overseas, riding in Australia and the UAE where her association with Heart Of Honour, trained by father Jamie, led to her making her debut in the Preakness and Belmont Stakes, legs two and three of the US Triple Crown Series.
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In Britain she won the Group 3 Bronte Cup on Scenic in May and the Group 3 Chipchase Stakes on Diligent Harry in June, while also competing in the Racing League, in which she had finished top jockey three years in a row.
Since August she has been in prolific form, riding 14 winners during the month and nine so far in September, of which the highlight was success on Calendar Girl in the £300,000 Weatherbys Scientific Stakes at last week’s St Leger meeting at Doncaster. It was the richest win of her career so far.
Two years ago Osborne, having reached a then best ever annual score of 70, had her season cut short in October when she tore ligaments in her knee following a fall. She didn’t return until the middle of January 2024.
The jockey’s father Jamie told Mirror Online: “She has done her knee again. She did it before and was off for a few months then. Thankfully they are not severe, grade two tears, which doesn’t require surgery and we have no idea of the timescale yet.”
He continued: “She has just started to fly again and I am going to have a busy time. There are people she was beginning to ride for who were going to be busy too. She could have had a great end to the year. It’s very annoying.”