Saffie Osborne’s feet had barely touched the ground when she sat down with Idol Horse after a whirlwind press call at Sha Tin on Thursday, but life in transit is nothing new for a jockey whose career has taken her to Dubai, Qatar, Australia and the United States in the past few years.
By rights the 24-year-old should have been exhausted, yet she started the conversation by counting her blessings.
“In what other world does a 24-year-old get paid to do what they love and travel around the world doing it?” she said. “I feel very lucky to ride in England as my base. We have world-class racing, world-class jockeys and world-class horses, but it’s really awesome to be able to go to all these different places.”
Some questions at the press call proved trickier than others. Asked what food she enjoys in Hong Kong, a rider who had yet to unpack her suitcase had little to offer, so she turned the question back on the press pack and asked for ideas on what to do in the city during her six-week stint that starts on Sunday.
Her most recent ride came in the Golden Eagle in Sydney aboard the aptly named Amazing Journey. The import finished ninth, but its rider’s own journey is only gathering pace.
Since September, Osborne has carried the tag of the first woman to ride a British Classic winner after Highwayman’s victory in the 250th St Leger. On Sunday she becomes the unwitting face of Sa Sa Ladies’ Purse Day, a fixture she had no idea would coincide with her debut.
“What a coincidence!” she said. “It would be quite fitting if I had a winner, wouldn’t it? Apparently I’ve got to find a pink dress.”
Behind the bubbly personality sits a serious talent who knows she is stepping into the toughest racing jurisdiction in the world. She has sought advice from Ryan Moore, an all-time great and a regular visitor to the city, and she even read Shane Dye’s recent Idol Thoughts column on what to expect riding in Hong Kong.
“I felt like it was a letter to me,” she said.
Preparation sits at the core of her approach.
“Homework is very important in all these places you go,” she said. “You need to understand what’s going on before you even sit on a horse. So I try to do as much form and homework as possible, to understand not only the horses I’m riding but the tracks I’m riding on. Then it’s about adapting quickly.”
Hong Kong’s jockeys’ room draws riders from all over the world, but Osborne has no plans to reinvent herself.
“The longer you do it, you develop your own style, and I don’t think that necessarily changes when you go to different places,” she said.
“It’s about understanding the tempo of the races. I’ve grown up riding against people like Ryan Moore and William Buick, and you learn so much from them. When you come somewhere else, you end up picking up things off other jockeys as well.”
The invitation to ride in Hong Kong caught her by surprise.
“I think it’s somewhere every jockey dreams of coming,” she said. “It was a bit of a shock when I was first invited halfway through this season, and a real honour to have been considered. I’ve watched so much racing in Hong Kong, not just the big meetings. I always keep up to date with who’s winning what.”
What struck her most from afar was the fans, and the bond they form with horses that stay in work for longer in Hong Kong than in jurisdictions where the commercial pull of the breeding industry forces horses into retirement earlier.
Watching Ka Ying Rising come out for trackwork at Sha Tin early on Thursday morning brought out the fan in her.
“Not only am I a jockey, I’m also just a kid that loves racing,” she said. “We wake up every Sunday that he’s running and see him blitz the track record and win, so to get to see him in the flesh is very cool.”
She felt the same pull in Dubai last year when Romantic Warrior stepped onto the track.
“Everyone’s thinking, ‘That’s Romantic Warrior,’” she said. “These horses are iconic. Even for me, it brings out that little kid who’s a massive racing fan.”
The youngest of four and the only girl, Osborne was pony mad from the start. Her father, Jamie, was a leading jumps jockey before he turned to training, and her mother, Katie O’Sullivan, is an equine artist, but her three older brothers never shared the passion.
“They would not know one end of a horse from the other,” she said. “I think my parents were slightly shocked when I came along and was the only one interested.”
Growing up on the family’s Lambourn yard turned that interest into something more.
“It just became like an addiction, getting up before school to ride out and stuff like that,” she said. “Before I was a jockey I was a massive racing fan, and I still am.” ∎
