Turner leads tributes to retired colleague and rival Gannon

Hayley Turner was among those to pay glowing tribute to weighing room colleague and rival Cathy Gannon on Sunday, the day after she announced her retirement from the saddle through injury.

Turner, who retired herself in 2015 but has subsequently made the odd cameo appearance – most recently at Yarmouth last Wednesday when scoring on Hart Stopper for Michael Bell – said: "It was a great time when me and Cathy were riding together. We were two girls in a minority, and I couldn't have asked for a better person to spend that amount of time with.

"We had a good laugh and a bit of banter, but we were also competing with each other all the time. You need someone good to keep pushing you forward when you think you're doing enough, and for me it was Cathy."

Hayley Turner on winner Shesha Bear (left) and Cathy Gannon and Penang Cinta break from the stalls together at Epsom in 2011Credit: Edward Whitaker

Of the circumstances surrounding Gannon's retirement Turner, at 34 a year younger than her, said: "I feel for Cathy. It's one thing retiring when you want to but another when it's taken away from you. It's unfortunate, but it's something we all have to go through and she's got a lovely family behind her.

"She's also been doing some jockey coaching and I hear that's what she'll move into now, when she goes back to Ireland. Anyone who has her as a coach will be very lucky – I can tell you first-hand that Cathy is a great person to learn from."

Gannon, who was unable to recover sufficiently to race-ride again after breaking all her toes on her left foot at Lingfield in May 2016, built up strong working relationships with many trainers, perhaps none more so than Henry Candy, for whom she often rode out.

Candy was generous in his praise, saying: "Cathy was a fine jockey, very strong and very tough. I'd have put her on absolutely anything.

"I remember one race, it was at Goodwood five years ago. She rode The Confessor. Tom Queally, who had just won the Sussex on Frankel earlier that afternoon, tried to go up her inside. That was a serious error."

He added: "Everyone misses her here. She used to ride out for us before she got injured, then she rang up in the spring and asked for some work.

"I told her I didn't have an awful lot that needed doing and she just replied, 'I'll find something'. She swept up, helped the blacksmith, did absolutely anything going. She's brilliant, a remarkable woman.

"If the young jockeys she's coaching turn out to be half as tough as she was they'll be riders to look forward to."

Malcolm Saunders gave more rides to Gannon than any other trainer in her final seasons in the saddle.

He said: "She had a really good year with us just before she got injured. She rode Sarangoo and Pixeleen to win for us at big prices from the front. I always thought she was a very good jockey from the front.

Gannon scores on the Malcolm Saunders-trained Pixeleen from Star Fire at Salisbury in 2015Credit: Edward Whitaker

"She was a good rider, very tough. She could tell you something about a horse, too, something you might want to work on.

"We didn't have her on everything, but Cathy was a good option to have and some horses seem to go better for girls. It was because of the success we had with her that we started using Josephine Gordon as she was coming through."

Gannon's biggest success came in her native Ireland, for trainer David Evans on Dingle View in the Group 3 Round Tower Stakes at the Curragh in August 2010.

Evans said: "It's a shame, because every time she seemed to be looking to come back there'd be another setback. Cathy was a very good rider, she could do light but she was very strong."

Gannon returns on Dingle View after winning the 2010 Group 3 Round Tower Stakes at The CuurraghCredit: Caroline Norris

Fearless, charming and spirited: Oxx on Gannon

Cathy Gannon’s first boss was John Oxx, and the trainer said on Sunday . . .

Cathy is a great girl and of course she had a natural instinct with horses as she used to ride ponies when she was growing up in Dublin. She is fearless and got on great with horses, and I have to say that when we had her as an apprentice she was brilliant with the yearlings.

They always settled beautifully for her – got their heads down nicely and arched their necks. It took her a while to gain confidence and it was a huge step up for her riding in races, but she was always very tidy and she pushed well.

The biggest compliment I could ever pay her is that she looked like any other jockey and you wouldn't say she was a girl. She was very polished and strong in the saddle, but above all else she had a fantastic spirit.

She has plenty of life and Dublin charm about her and everybody got on great with her. I always say to apprentices that people need to like you to give you a chance, and I've never met anybody who didn't like Cathy.

We’ve always been very proud about what she went on to achieve.