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For over a decade I have argued the case for female jockeys to be given an even break by trainers and owners and I find it rather odd that now, as I believe it to be, the battle is half-won, there seems to be a general debate on how to push forward on the issue, motivated to a great extent by the recent 14-year study that suggests the female to be as competent as the male.
On the day ‘The Morning Show’ debated the issue three female jockeys won races of note – Rachael Blackmore won a valuable handicap chase for Willie Mullins, no less, at the Dublin Festival, Rachel Macdonald won, albeit slightly fortuitously, the Edinburgh National and Bryony Frost, on this occasion upstaged by her female colleagues, triumphed in a race at Musselburgh with the name ‘champion’ in its title. I believe the issue of whether female jockeys can hack it as professionals is more than half-won; they can, if given the sort of opportunities the three aforementioned jockeys are blessed to have. The topic of debate should be how to keep up the momentum, not whether females are up to the job. Opportunity is the key, aligned with acceptance of why it is important to the sport for there to be female representation at the top table. Hayley Turner makes the point that it is equally hard for young male apprentices to make a name for themselves as females, yet the fact that females only make up 11% of people with a jockeys license suggests the playing field remains far from even. Certainly if you look at apprentice races the majority of riders are male and over jumps conditional races have even less females taking part. I suspect in point-to-points and amateur races the ratio will also be in favour of male jockeys. But then for hundreds of years young males have had role models to look up to and attempt to imitate. It is only since the arrival on the scene of Hayley Turner have young girls had someone to emulate. Indeed without her our sport would have far less women with professional jockey licences than is presently the situation. Hayley Turner will be recorded in the annals of our sport as a true pioneer, as much a trailblazer for her sex as any of the suffragettes; her influence as great, or even exceeding, any of the exploits of Frankie, Lester or Sir Gordon. So the debate should be how to convince trainers, and to a larger degree owners, as I believe they are the main stumbling block, to give girls a proper sporting chance. On the flat I can suggest three clear and easily achieved initiatives: the expansion of the ‘Silk Series’, though without the need to have female amateurs taking part; a signature race for professional lady jockeys held perhaps at Glorious Goodwood or the July meeting at Newmarket, with a handful of valuable handicaps through the season confined to professional female jockeys; and though not exclusive to female riders regular races through the season confined to jockeys who have not ridden, for example, 20 winners in the previous 6 or 12 months, an initiative that would help all jockeys struggling for recognition be they male or female. Ironically it is in the tougher, more demanding side of the sport where the greater inroads have occurred. Nina Carberry and Katie Walsh are recognised as two of the best amateur jockeys for many a year, with all sectors of the sport holding them in great respect. Katie Walsh even rode a gambled on favourite in the Grand National a few years ago. And whenever Bryony Frost is engaged for a horse it is seen by punters and tipsters as a positive booking. Again it is opportunity that is the key. Because of the scarcity of female professionals at present I would suggest any replica of the ‘Silk Series’ in National Hunt should be open to female amateurs, though there should be an increase in the races through the season restricted to female professionals, with a signature race at somewhere like Aintree or Cheltenham. I have also suggested that on the day after Boxing Day Kempton could stage a ‘Shergar Cup’ type of event for National Hunt jockeys with various teams comprising, for example, British male jockeys, British-based Irish male jockeys, a team from the continent and a team of professional female jockeys. I am sure this idea would be very popular with the public; a battle of male ego versus female pride. Although I do not believe a female will be champion jockey over jumps for a decade or more – though if owners and trainers got behind Josephine Gordon I can see her becoming champion jockey on the flat – I can see a day quite soon when, as in Ireland with Rachael Blackmore, a female jockey will be one of the top ten in the country. One last thought: with the burgeoning popularity of female jockeys, and the increasing success they are achieving, is this not a good opportunity to persuade a female orientated company, say a leading cosmetics or clothing brand, to become sponsors? I would have thought a signature race at Glorious Goodwood would be ready-made for such sponsorship. The rise and rise of the female in our sport is an opportunity that should be grasped. The future, as with nearly all aspects of life nowadays, is female.
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I have argued previously that there are now more than enough graded races throughout the National Hunt season and I have also made the argument for allocating greater amounts of prize money to racing’s everyday fare. To my mind, and to the owners of horses of lesser ability housed in any trainer’s yard in the country, Leicester or Plumpton on a Monday is every bit as essential to the vitality and health of the sport as Newbury or Sandown on a Saturday. For betting turnover I suspect the week-day fare is more than just of tick-over importance.
What is often overlooked by those people who champion the principle of ‘better quality racing is that racing is not only a sport but an industry in which many thousands of people derive a living and the ‘better quality’ races are in the main irrelevant to the majority of racing’s dependents. It would help every one of the smaller racecourses if once a season they received funding for a significant race or meeting. In Ireland courses of the statue of Roscommon and Tramore have a festival meeting, no doubt allied to a date in the calendar of historic value to the locality. A similar initiative in this country can only be of help to the racecourses that are the load-bearers of the sport. Also, and I have argued this point for several decades, for the sake of the sport’s integrity it might be a good initiative if on a weekly basis there were races restricted to jockeys who have not ridden say 25 winners in a calendar year or a said number for that season. If one of these races were staged in the north, in the midlands and in the south per week those jockeys struggling to make ends meet would receive the opportunity to demonstrate their talent and to prop up their income. These races have no need of sponsors, no increase in normal prize levels and would take a very small amount from the income of the top jockeys. It would also not inconvenience the sport if there were races occasionally for trainers who have not trained a certain amount of winners in a calendar year, or indeed the occasional race for those horses who barely scrape an official rating. The problem I have with the term ‘better quality racing’ is that people are usually referring to races that attract horses of the calibre of Un De Sceaux or Buveur d’Air, horses who because of their reputations scare off any possible opposition as there is so much choice for trainers these days that the good horses can be kept apart until Cheltenham. Yet on any day of the week, at any racecourse, you could witness a rousing finish or a multiple photo-finish in a 7-furlong seller or class 4 handicap. Un De Sceaux is quality but you cannot argue that his races are defined by drama and an exciting finish. As the upcoming Dublin Festival proves, at this time of year you can throw a shed-load of money at a meeting and yet for many different reasons the crowd-pulling superstars will be absent due to the greater importance of the Cheltenham Festival. No matter how worthy an initiative the Dublin Festival is in real terms only a 2-day trials day for the Cheltenham Festival. And the succeeding weeks in Ireland may seem a little thin with all the races that were the highlights of February now compressed into a single meeting. If the straight long line of ordinary fare that is the foundation of the racing pyramid is not robust and secure the succeeding stories up to the summit will crack and crumble and instead of having a smooth-sided structure that shines for all to see it will become a stepped pyramid overgrown at its roots. If the sport does not do all in its power to help and protect the Monday racecourses, the journeyman jockey, the small trainer, one-horse owner and racegoers who attend in the rain and cold, the view from the summit might not always be as dazzling as it presently appears to be. |
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November 2024
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