Talented trio ready to head new generation of female jockeys

It has been a tense few weeks for Josephine Gordon. Having trailed Tom Marquand throughout the summer in the Stobart Apprentice Jockeys’ Championship, she nosed ahead thanks to a productive September.

Marquand, the reigning champion, struggled for winners that month but the outcome was still too close to call until Gordon made the long journey from her Lambourn base to Catterick on Tuesday and came home with a double. The title was effectively hers, since Marquand was close to running his race. He relinquishes his apprentices’ licence from tomorrow to join the ranks of fully-fledged jockeys.

Gordon, 23, thus becomes the third female jockey to win the coveted title after Hayley Turner (2005) and Amy Ryan (2012). Her successor next year could also be female - Georgia Cox and Hollie Doyle are closing the season with a flourish. Cox rode seven winners in September alone, while Doyle has 19 winners on the board to date.