Women In Racing

Women in racing are consistently being underestimated, as female jockeys continue to overcome the odds. In recent years, women jockeys have increasingly taken to the track, proving to prevail over public and industry perceptions of their capability.

Proving that gender does not define skill, strength, or ability, what are the origins of female horse racing and how has it developed over recent years?

 

Women in Racing: The History

Representation of women in racing has long been an uphill battle. Until 1966, the Jockey Club did not allow women to train horses under license. Women had to further wait for the right to race too, not being granted permission by the governing body until 1972.

In 1972, Merial Tufnell became the first woman to win a flat race under Jockey Club rules. However, women were still segregated from men at this point, with all-women races limiting the potential of female riders to take on bigger stages. By 1974, female and male jockeys were finally on equal competition grounds.

According to research from Betway, it wasn’t until three years after women and men were allowed to compete alongside each other in horseracing, that the first female jockey appeared in the running for a major title. Charlotte Brew, riding Barony Fort, was the first to take on Aintree’s Grand National. Unfortunately, not finishing the race, spectators had to wait until 1982 to see a woman place; Geraldine Rees riding Martinstown, finishing in 8^th.

Twelve years passed until another female jockey took a place in the Grand National stakes, with Rosemary Henderson finishing 5^th in 1994. However, the sport reached a stalemate after Henderson’s success, going without a female Grand National jockey until 2005. Since then, women have increasingly partaken in the running’s of the Grand National and other major races alike.

Where Are We Now?

Although there has been significant improvement within women in racing, there still seems to be a long way to go for equality in the sport.

Horse racing is still very much male-dominated. Female jockeys held 18.9% of flat and 12.9% of jump horses, however only a small percent was placed with 3-,4-, and 5-year-old horses. In the same year, 46% of trainers in the UK did not use female jockeys on any of their runners.

There has been a suggestion that the sport is still heavily intertwined with tradition. The old racing narrative: ‘Men fall like boiled eggs. Women fall like raw eggs’ was recently highlighted, with female jockeys raising the issues of power imbalances due to perceptions of females as weaker, more prone to injury, and less capable than their male counterparts.

Despite, under-representation and stigma surrounding women in horseracing, wins by female jockeys in British racing increased by 76% between 2015 and 2019.

In 2019, female jockey, Holly Doyle, set a new landmark for female victories with 116 wins in a year. In the same year, Hayley Turner became the first winning female rider at the Royal Ascot for 32 years.

Nicola Currie also hit a women’s first, coming the first female to ride in the QIPCO Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot. Meanwhile, Bryony Frost made history at the Cheltenham Festival, as the first woman to win over fences at Grade One level, riding Frodon in the Ryanair Chases.

Khadijah Mellah broke new grounds for both women and race, as she displayed the perfect example of resilience and ability. Mellah became the first hijab-wearing jockey to ride in and win a race in Britain, after just two months of intensive training. The 18-year-old won the Magnolia Cup at Glorious Goodwood, on the runner, Haverland.

More recently, Rachael Blackmore became the first female jockey to win the Cheltenham Festival Champions Hurdle in 2021, among her five other wins at the event. However, to date, no women jockeys have ever won the world famous Grand National.

What Is Next For Women In Racing?

Recent research suggests that there is no performance difference between male and female jockeys. The probability of a women compared to a man finishing a horse race and placing with earnings was not different upon analysis. Therefore, it lends the question, where are women in racing?

With stigma ingrained within the sport, multiple sporting bodies have taken it upon themselves to support women in racing. For example, Just Jockeys strives for female jockeys to be seen on a deserved, level playing field.

As women storm through the top-ranks of racing, more and more women seem to be joining the workforce. It is estimated that 70% of incoming staff into the sport and through racing schools are female.

Meanwhile, Women in Racing are supporting the career development of all women in racing, including female yard staff and jockeys. Pioneering work to support women in the workplace, the female-headed board recently raised a report on inequalities and the impact of motherhood on career ambitions within racing. With this inequality prevalent in other sports too, Women in Racing, alongside Women in Sport aim to address this across the board.

Work is continuously going on in the background to support women in racing, with female jockeys quickly becoming household names. It is only a matter of time before a woman crosses the line of the prestigious Grand National as a winner for the first time in history. Picking up six wins at this year’s Cheltenham Festival, all eyes are on Rachael Blackmore’s chances for the 2021 Grand National Cup.