In July, 2023, jockey Adrian Heskin announced that he would be returning to his native Ireland to continue his riding career. Born in Kilworth, Co. Cork on April 22, 1992, Heskin rode his first winner, Mystical Breeze, trained by Michael Hourigan, at Naas in March, 2009. He rode his first winner on British soil, Turf War, also trained by Hourigan, at Ffos Las three months later and, towards the end of the 2009/10 season, completed a notable double for the Co. Limerick handler on New Story in the Glenfarclas Handicap Chase at Cheltenham and Church Island in the bet365 Gold Cup Chase at Sandown Park.
More recently, Heskin was appointed stable jockey to Gloucestershire trainer Tom George in September, 2016 and, the following year, was contracted to ride for leading National Hunt owner Max McNeil. Indeed, he enjoyed his most successful season in Britain, numerically and financially, in 2016/17, with 54 winners and over £800,000 in prize money. Victory for The Worlds End, in the familiar colours of the McNeill family – blue and white hoops, burgundy sleeves – in the Grade 1 Doom Bar Sefton Novices’ Hurdle at Aintree in April, 2017 was his seasonal highlight.
In his next five seasons, Heskin rode 38, 16, 39, 32 and 32 winners in Britain, but in 2022/23 his seasonal tally fell to 20 and, in 2023/24, so far, thios tally fell further. In May, 2023, McNeill announced that he would reducing the number of horses he owned and, consequently, would no longer be retaining Heskin. Reflecting on his decision to return home, Heskin said, ‘The plan for me and my wife Danielle was always to come back to Ireland and, without the certainty of a secure job in England for the coming campaign, it just brought that forward.’
In May 2024 Heskin called time on his riding career. A career that saw him become the youngest winner at the Cheltenham Festival (ages 17 at the time) and left little unanswered in terms of ability and achievement.
“I’m very proud of my career and achieved far more than I could have imagined as a kid. I rode for the best of trainers on both sides of the Irish Sea and some fantastic owners along the way. Of course, some amazing horses too.
Horse racing is a sport that attracts masses of fans worldwide and has a truly global appeal. People from a range of countries not only take time to watch the latest races but to bet on them as well. 
Saffron ‘Saffie’ Osborne is, of course, the daughter of National Hunt jockey-turned-trainer Jamie Osborne and, in recent seasons, has found fame as the ‘Queen of the Racing League’. On September 15, 2022, she rode a 6,539/1 treble in the final round of the six-week series, sponsored by William Hill, to win the £20,000 leading jockey award. At that point, she said, ‘I’d never even ridden a treble before, so to get a £20,000 bonus on top of it is quite nice.’
Of course, the Flat Jockeys’ Championship is decided on the total number of winners ridden, not the total amount of prize money accrued, during the ‘season’. Until 2015, winners ridden during the whole of the traditional Flat racing season on turf, between late March or early April and early November, counted towards the jockeys’ title, regardless of whether they were achieved on turf or all-weather surfaces. However, increasingly worried by the punishing schedule faced by Flat jockeys, particularly those in pursuit of the title, the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) effectively shortened the season by approximately eight weeks.