Saffie Osborne eyeing first century of winners after sealing a third straight top rider title at Racing League

Saffie Osborne is determined to chase her first century of winners after being crowned top Racing League jockey for the third straight year.

Osborne rode a 824-1 treble at Southwell on Thursday night to clinch the title in the team contest, which saw Wales and the West triumph over The East by almost 100 points.

Success on the 14-1 shot Fantasy Believer in the event's penultimate race sealed Osborne the £20,000 winning prize as leading rider and a third straight title was a pleasant surprise for the 22-year-old.

"It was brilliant, though I probably wasn't expecting it this time," she said. "The hope was to get one winner, but to get three on the night was amazing. 

"Going into the final meeting I thought Danny [Muscutt] and Billy [Loughnane] probably had a stronger book of rides than me, but it was great everything fell right like that. 

"The prize-money throughout the competition has been brilliant and to get the bonus on top of that was even better. A lot of thanks must go to Racing League for putting on good money for it."

The Thursday night card marked the conclusion of the six-week competition, which saw Osborne ride eight winners and contribute to a £50,000 stable staff bonus for her winning team.

Saffie Osborne: eyeing 100 winners for the yearCredit: Edward Whitaker

"I thought it was great," she said of the event. "It seemed like there was even more people on the racecourse this year and there was a great atmosphere around the meetings, it feels like there are plenty of people getting behind it."

Thursday's treble means Osborne has surpassed last year's record of 70 winners and puts her in prime position to achieve her season-long ambition of 100 winners.

"At the start of the year I wanted to try and get to 100, and hopefully if it can continue the way it's going then I'm on the right track and it might be possible," Osborne said.

"I was injured for the first six weeks of the year, so it was a bit of a slow start, but now the season has kicked in it's been brilliant. To be holding a nice position in the jockeys' championship is great too – I'm just delighted with how things are going." 

Racing League 2024 final standings

1 Wales and the West 869 points
2 The East 772.5
3 London and the South 757
4 Ireland 703
5 The North 477
6 Scotland 434.5
7 Yorkshire 360

Read more:

Super Saffie Osborne helps Wales and the West regain Racing League crown with 824-1 treble 

Los Angeles to tackle Irish Champion but Ryan Moore set to ride another Group 1 star 

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