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Leonna Mayor’s first ever winner was Colinca’s Lad at Yarmouth.
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She was forced to retire from the saddle in 2013.
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Leonna used to drive around in a light green Fiat Punto.
Leonna Mayor is now a familiar face to horse racing viewers on both Sky Sports Racing and ITV, but who exactly is the lady behind the microphone?
We endeavour to find out who this leading lady of betting is...
Early Life
Born on August 21, 1990, Leonna’s first ever horse related job was when she was aged 13 and worked for a showjumper in Whitchurch called Peter Lamb.
She used to ride the ponies that had come over from Ireland before they were sold. She worked weekends and school holidays and stayed in a caravan on site.
Leonna then went onto work at Brian Baugh’s in Stoke-on-Trent at the age of 14. She loved going there outside of her school hours and enjoyed galloping his string of horses so much.
With her being so small and light it was always the plan to get a licence one day and ride some winners.
After turning 16 Leonna went to the racing school at Newmarket. From there, she got a placement with Tony Carroll and was there for a year as a stable lass.
One of her most vivid memories from her time at Carroll’s was the day when her favourite horse was Harbour Blues was heading to the races. She rode him out most days and always took him racing.
He was flying at home and Tony had put the jockey Cathy Gannon aboard him at Haydock. Leonna was excited to be going and that a girl was riding him.
Not only did he win the best turned out that afternoon, he also went on to win the race. Leonna was so proud of him but she wished it was her up there riding him.
Racing Career
It was after a move to Phil McEntee’s yard that things started to take off for Leonna.
“I got my apprentice licence and after moving to Phil McEntee I got lots of rides,” Mayor told an interview with the Oxford Mail.
“As I’m sure everyone is aware, with smaller trainers the horses often aren’t so great.
“I think my first winner was on my 51st ride, but once it happens it’s such a great feeling. It’s unbelievable.” It was a comfortable winner too which made it all the more sweeter.
“That win was for Peter Charalambous on a horse called Colinca’s Lad at Yarmouth,” she said.
Mayor cites her favourite memory as when she won the King Richard III Class 3 Handicap at Pontefract on Thunderball, which was her fourth won on him and they had a really strong bond.
He was about 17 hands tall and pretty scared of going in the stalls. But from riding him regularly at home, Mayor got him to settle down at the start and they won the feature race nicely together.
Early Retirement
Leonna’s race riding days were brought to a premature end in 2013, with an ankle injury halted her flourishing career in the saddle.
The “Potter” had 32 winners to her name from 2009-13, before her knock forced her into early retirement from the saddle. She was one of the best female jockeys of her generation.
Mayor rode winners for the following trainers: Peter Charalambous, Dandy Nicholls, Roy Bowring, Ronald Harris, Phil McEntee, Alastair Lidderdale, Jamie Osborne, Joseph Tuite, Lawny Hill and Chris Smith.
Her shortest priced winner was 6/4 and her longest 16/1. On the odd occasion her rides were selected as the NAP of the day by the national press.
Leonna Mayor Model
When she was much younger Leonna appeared in Argos catalogues, but in the spring of 2013, whilst she was sidelined, she reached a different audience altogether when taking part in a series of photoshoots for Zoo magazine and the Daily Star.
Although they were all very tastefully done, and Leonna was a beautiful young woman posing in underwear, it prompted criticism from certain quarters with her fellow jockey at the time - Kirsty Milczarek, saying it was backward step for women in racing".
That comment probably had a barbed-edge of jealously to it and Mayor was understandably undeterred.
In a recent interview with Lee Mottershead of the Racing Post, Leonna explained the whole modelling chapter and how it was portrayed by certain people:
"I wasn't ever bothered about modelling," she insists. "The Zoo thing only happened because Racing For Change told me they were trying to get a new market interested in racing and in horse racing online bets, and Zoo wanted me for a photoshoot.
"I know the reasons I did it and I think they were the right reasons. It didn't do anyone any harm and I don't regret it.
"I didn't get my boobs out and never would do that. I hope to have children in the future and there's nothing they could find on the internet I would be ashamed of, nothing at all.
"I think because I'm a girl with a certain image I have to work harder. I still believe people look at someone like me and think, 'There's a bimbo'.
"I find it really offensive when people say I only get work on television because I'm pretty. It's not like I'm just standing there in front of a camera doing nothing.
"We all know people who have got jobs for the wrong reasons. I've got jobs because I've worked hard, proved myself and made things happen."
Current Roles
Leonna has been broadcasting now for just over a decade. What started as a part-time sideline is now her full-time profession.
Mayor's main employers are ITV Racing and Sky, plus William Hill TV for whom she has been with right from her early dalliances with broadcasting. She’s has now turned into one of the best horse racing pundits around.
In fact, Leonna is very good on the tipping front, as a fairly recent interaction between myself and William Hill’s finest pundit went on to prove...
*Credit for all of the photos in this article belongs to AP Photo*
FIRST PUBLISHED: 11th March 2022
