29 August 2023 , 12:46
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Britain’s winning-most female jockey has revealed she was once sent “a spliff” by a prison inmate.
Hayley Turner said she received a cannabis joint in the post after becoming the target of a mystery prisoner serving time in Brixton jail, and the 40-year-old said police had to be called in after the sender of the letters made threats against her grandmother. Turner, who has ridden 966 winners, made the disclosures in an interview for .
“Well before social media some guy used to write to me from Brixton prison,” she said. "I don’t know how the letters found their way to me because he just wrote ‘Jockey Hayley Turner, Newmarket’ but the Royal Mail did a great job of getting them to me.
“He used to write some pretty weird stuff and he actually sent me a spliff in the post once, which was a bit random.”
The correspondence kept coming but the Nottingham-born jockey said the campaign took a nasty turn.
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“There were some threats against my nana and just lots of really crazy stuff,” she said. “I actually ended up getting the police involved and he got warned and that was it.”
Turner said the incidents occurred before social media which has now made it easier to send abusive messages.
“When you get beat on a favourite that’s the worst. One of my favourites was someone calling me a dirty midget wh***! I have a group chat with my sisters and my mum and dad and I just take a screenshot and send it to them and we just joke about it.
“I know when I’ve done something wrong in a race I don’t need someone to tell me and I’ll be the first to put my hands up. They haven’t ridden the horse and they don’t know much.
“It’s probably some bloke eating a pot noodle with a can of cider sitting in their nana’s living room abusing me! I don’t care what they think.”