EXCLUSIVE Sparkling Saffie Osborne is blazing a Stateside trail as she chases $2m Triple Crown glory for her and trainer dad Jamie

Daily Mail​

10-05-2025

Alarm bells should ring when the first question of an interview is met with silence but, on this occasion, Saffie Osborne can be excused.
Saffie is one of the most talented young riders in the business, and next Saturday at Pimlico racetrack in Baltimore, she will become something of a pioneer.
Thanks to the ambition of her father Jamie - a once fine jump jockey, whose second career as a trainer in Lambourn has been a great success - this 23-year-old will be on a bonny colt called Heart Of Honor in the Preakness Stakes.
It is the middle leg of the American Triple Crown, an event on a dirt surface worth $2m that creates legends. But it tends to be contested by horses based in the United States. So how many European horses have tried to win it since the turn of the century?
'Oh!' Saffie says. 'Erm... five?'
The answer is none. Just two European riders - Frankie Dettori and Fergal Lynch - have made it to the start in the last 25 years, while the sole female jockey is Rosie Napravnik in 2014.
When this is pointed out, the words begin to flow and the smile is as warm as the sun that shines on Chester's paddock, where we speak. It has been recommended she try the local delicacy of soft-shell crab when arriving in Baltimore but, much as she loves travelling, there is a job to be done.
'You dream when you are growing up about these races,' she enthuses. 'I've asked Ryan Moore and Will Buick for pointers, but neither of them have been to Pimlico so I best call Frankie and find out what I need to do!
'I think I'll have watched the last 23 races by the time I get there. I'm riding against some of the best in the world, so you want to make sure you are well equipped and know everything in store for you.'
There is so much more to this than just the sporting aspect, as how often will a father and daughter get an opportunity to make history? When it is framed that way, Saffie tells the story of Heart Of Honor's recent run at Meydan.
Seven months earlier he made his debut at Southwell on a dank October night, but come April it was the glitz and glamour of Dubai.
Jamie felt Heart Of Honor would be perfect for the UAE Derby, worth £464,000 to the winner, but Saffie and Heart Of Honor were beaten in a photo finish. They were in front a stride before and a stride after the line but the judge's decision cost them £304,000.
Jamie knows what it is like to be on the wrong side of a close finish - his Toast Of New York was inches away from winning the 2014 Breeders Cup Classic - but this loss stung.
'On World Cup night, you have to walk across the grass track on to the dirt,' Saffie explains. 'The groom who looks after Heart Of Honor has been with dad for 10 to 15 years.
'I've known Jimmy McCarthy, who was leading me on the other side, since I was a baby. He's like a second dad to me. That's when it hit me. I was thinking, "This is why I want to be a jockey".
'For the horse to come from fairly humble beginnings to there was pretty spectacular, so it was agonising to get beat. I've had some boyfriends, but that was the most heartbroken I've ever been!
'But the heartbreak wasn't just for me. It was for Jim and Claire Bryce, who own the horse, and for dad.
'I was fine when I walked in, but I saw dad and he was half welling up. It just got me. To have a horse of this calibre is incredible but to do it for dad? It's just so exciting.'
While Saffie will likely use the flight to Baltimore to watch Yellowstone - a friend has likened her to the firebrand character Beth Dutton - her travelling companion is likely to be a bit more fidgety.
'My mum, Katie, always used to say "pressure is a privilege" and it's true,' Saffie, who sparkled at Ascot on Saturday when delivering 22-1 shot Hickory to win the historic Victoria Cup, says. 'If you work so hard to get into these positions, you have to appreciate it.
'You are there to do a job, but a bit of nervousness is good - that's the thrill of it. Dad? He gets very nervous! I wouldn't want to see how many cigarettes he smokes between legging me up and off time! But it makes it so special.
'Last year, he did a talk about Toast Of New York as it had been 10 years since the Breeders Cup. At the end, he got quite emotional and said, "I want another one!"
'It's quite amazing that less than a year later, we have got this lad.
'A couple of days after Dubai, he asked me, "What do you think about America?" I just said, "He is only three once. Let's go for it".'