STEAMING A star Turn that racing should not be without

GLORIOUS GOODWOOD aside, my highlight of the week was the first race at Windsor on Monday night.

It was no more than an average handicap over six furlongs, offering a purse of £6,469 to the winner.

But, as the latest instalment of the Silk Series for female riders, it pitched

Hayley Turner — Britain’s most successful female jockey — against Josephine Gordon, who barring injury will one day claim that mantle for herself.

In the event, the pair — despite partnering the 3-1 joint-favourites — managed only minor placings in third and fourth as Nicola Currie scored aboard Dandy Flame from Jenny Powell on Musical Comedy.

But it was a thrill to see the country’s two best female jockeys in competition with each other — and I’m hungry for more.

Although Turner retired after 15 years in the saddle in November 2015, she never closed the door on a return to action.

The 34-year-old came back to form one-third of the ‘Girls’ team at the Shergar Cup last August — winning a race — and she’ll be in the line-up again at Ascot next Saturday.

Turner triumphed on Flying Sparkle at Windsor last month before participating — and eventually finishing last — in the inaugural Lady Jockeys’ World Thoroughbred World Championship at Bro Park in Sweden the following day.

But further success came via Hart Stopper in the Silk Series at Yarmouth, and Turner conjured a fast-finishing response from Fire Brigade to take third in a big-money handicap on Ascot’s King George undercard last Saturday.

By now, Turner comebacks are becoming so frequent that they are ceasing to represent news stories.

And they beg an obvious question — why not do it full time?

It’s not as if riding and Turner’s TV work — she’s a pundit for ITV (left) and At The Races — are by necessity mutually exclusive, and the fact she took the mount on Fire Brigade was of major interest to viewers of racing’s terrestrial broadcaster. But Turner knows you can’t play at being a jockey — she didn’t scale the career peaks of 100 victories in a calendar year and two Group 1 prizes with an approach that was, well, perfunctory.

And she’s also well aware she’d need to put an edge on her fitness if she’s to do more than the odd novelty show, for which interest must inexorably dwindle.

I’d love to see her back in the sport on a daily basis, but only weeks and months of commitment and dedication would render such a comeback possible.

Over to you, Hayley.

LIFT OFF Hayley Turner retires from the saddle at Doncaster in November 2015