allowances for females.

​I believe it is time to start or restart the debate on whether female professionals over jumps should be given a 3 or 4Ib allowance once they have ridden-out their conditional allowance at 90-winners. (Or is it 75 over jumps?) In France, both on the flat and over jumps, in races of no prestige, females get a 4Ib (though it might be kilo or whatever currency they use for weights on the continent), a circumstance that might have encouraged Isaac Souede and Simon Munir to engage Bryony Frost as their retained rider in France. I may be doing Bryony an injustice and the allowance never entered the equation. 
When this subject first came to the table, as a direct result of the allowance being introduced in France, an initiative to encourage French owners and trainers to give females a sporting chance to establish themselves, Rachael Blackmore had come to the fore in Ireland and Bryony was winning Grade 1 races in Britain and the scene was beginning to look rosy in the diversity stakes. Yet, even if Rachael Blackmore has continued to add Grade 1’s to her c.v., there is no one following in her wake in Ireland – literally no one – and with Bryony now based in France, there is no female riding in any Grade 1’s in Britain and only occasionally in the major handicaps.
In itself it is not a problem, if it were not for the fact that the sport prides itself on its diversity, an equal opportunities sport where men and women compete on a level playing field. I would argue, though, and Paul Nicholls said on more than one occasion that he would give Bryony more rides if only certain owners would play ball, that there are many an owner and trainer who would say no to a female riding their horses on the racecourse, especially in races of importance.
It is for this reason, to encourage female jockeys to keep up the good fight and to give good reason for owners to say yes to a female rider, that this is a good time to kick-start the debate. The sport must thrive in all its aspects and it needs female participation at all levels. Remember, if you can see it, you can be it.
In France, females do not receive an allowance in good-class races. It is only in ordinary races where they receive the allowance. But is it fair that someone of her experience, Britain’s best and most successful female National Hunt jockey, should receive an allowance? I do not think so. Although I would support an allowance for female jockeys in Britain, I would take away the allowance once 125 or perhaps 150-winners has been achieved, though I would have the allowance for all races, excluding the Blue Riband races, the Cheltenham Gold Cup and Champion Hurdle, for example.
Our most successful female National Hunt jockey at the moment is Lily Pinchin and you will have to look a long way down the jockeys’ championship table to discover how many winners she has achieved this season. As with many jockeys, male and female, her current total of winners does not reflect either her commitment or ability. I dare say she might say, as was said when this subject came up for discussion a few years ago, that female jockeys wanted to achieve success through their own endeavours and without favour, as Hayley Turner commentated, though, ‘if you find a five-pound-note on the ground, you pick it up.’
Lily Pinchin must be close to or above a hundred career winners and this initiative, if brought-in, would be of only limited use to her, though it might allow her a few days in the sun which without it she might go her whole career not achieving. As I say repeatedly, everyone who works hard in this sport deserves an opportunity to prove themselves. This sport needs another Bryony Frost. She proved able at the top table, as did Lizzie Kelly and Bridget Andrews when opportunity came their way. And then there is the shining example of Rachael Blackmore who was getting nowhere fast until Eddie O’Leary spotted her potential and used his influence to get people to give her a chance. An allowance would give the next Blackmore or Frost a fighting chance to establish themselves. That is all I am saying.