Turner to resume riding career Hayley Turner will be back in the saddle at Ascot this afternoon after being cleared to return to race-riding. The leading lady rider was given the go-ahead following a hearing of the British Horseracing Authority medical review panel yesterday evening at Shaftesbury Avenue. Turner had been facing a year on the sidelines after sustaining head injuries in a fall on the gallops on March 3. She was fired into the ground and knocked unconscious after the Phil McEntee-trained Old Sarum broke a leg on the Newmarket gallops. A subsequent scan showed Turner had suffered some bruising inside her skull and the BHA's chief medical advisor, Dr Michael Turner, recommended that she be stood down for 12 months. After initially being told not to reapply for a licence until March 2010, Turner decided to contest that decision and will now be allowed back into the riding ranks. "Following a hearing of the medical review panel, having heard the latest medical reports, they have recommended that Hayley Turner be granted a licence," confirmed BHA spokesman Paul Struthers. Turner, the first woman to ride 100 winners in a calendar year in Britain, was understandably delighted and keen to express her gratitude to her many supporters. She said: "I am obviously over the moon with today's decision and would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported me over the last few months, especially Dr Kirkpatrick and the other doctors and Justin Wadham. "I would also like to thank my mother for putting up with all my moods for the last few months. I am so looking forward to Ascot and riding for Michael Bell, who has been so supportive." Turner is set to ride Prompter and Great Charm for boss Bell at the Berkshire venue. The trainer said: "I'm very happy with the news. It's been so frustrating for Hayley as we have had the neurosurgeons' reports recommending that she is fit to ride for three weeks, but she has just been waiting for an appeal date. "It's been frustrating to have to sit and wait but we're delighted with this evening's decision. She's going to ride two at Ascot and she's very excited to be back where she belongs. Hopefully now it will be onwards and upwards." Turner missed the ride aboard Bell's Golden Jubilee Stakes winner Art Connoisseur at the Royal meeting and despite that colt contesting today's Darley July Cup, all concerned thought it better to opt for a lower-key return. Bell added: "There was a temptation to let Hayley ride, but we all thought that wouldn't be fair to Hayley or Jamie (Spencer) who is booked for the ride and is one of our jockeys too."
