misogyny and the want of the bully rears its ugly head once more.

​Loud mouth, unsuccessful football manager and leading asshole, Joey Barton, recently referred to two female football pundits as being like ‘Fred and Rose West’. If he had referred to two Muslims in a similar manner, he would doubtless be arrested for a hate crime. So how has he got away with blatant misogyny without a knock on his door from the police?
My heart sank when it came to my attention that jockey Neil Callan, his nose obviously put out of joint by an article in the Sunday Times by David Walsh on the on the abuse and bullying Bryony Frost was subjected to by horse racing’s very own Joey Barton, Robbie Dunne, went on social media to offer his opinion that it was nothing but a storm in a teacup which no one would have heard about if the victim was male. #saywhateveryoneelseis thinking.
Well, Neil, not everyone is thinking what you were thinking!
Callan withdrew his ‘tweet’ after being rapped over the knuckles by the Professional Jockeys Association, which put out a statement that they had protocols in place that jockeys were expected to abide by and that the association did not condone bullying or abuse by its members.
To my mind, this is not enough. The Frost/Dunne case was a sad indictment on the sport and cast horse racing in dark shadows. I am steadfast in my opinion that Dunne got off with too light a sentence. He should have been banned for life to give a clear message that jockeys earn their living in the 21st century, not the 19th. Honest opinion is one thing and I would defend Callan’s right to express himself freely. But there are lines in the sand and his opinion in this matter clearly puts out the message that he believes bullying, or the right of every senior jockey to lay down the law to younger or female colleagues as they see fit, is a perfectly valid position. It casts suspicion on him that he is capable of similar behaviour. If the B.H.A. are to crackdown on jockeys who believe misogyny and abusive behaviour are acceptable in the workplace, then they must, at the very least, order Callan to appear before them to explain himself. A ban, I believe, for bringing the sport into disrepute, would not be too harsh a penalty.
Let’s be clear: David Walsh was 100% correct in his assertion that ‘Racing had a treasure in Bryony Frost – and closed ranks to bury it.’ At a time when racing journalists are asking where are the jockeys to fill Frankie Dettori’s position as its leading marketing tool, the minions of the weighing room who collectively set about to silence Bryony, stole from the sport one of racing’s best marketing assets. 
Remember Francesca Cumani’s tears after hearing Bryony eloquently describe what winning the Ryanair Chase meant to her, how ‘Frodon grabbed her hand’ to instil his faith into her? Rachel Blackmore said she didn’t know how Bryony could express herself so clearly after a race as she herself struggled to fashion more than a few words together at the end of a race. Frodon, Bryony’s after-race eulogy, followed by Paisley Park’s emotional Stayers’ Hurdle win, was part of one of racing’s most glorious hours. That is what Robbie Dunne and the silent conspiracy of the weighing room have taken from the sport.
In effect, to a large extent, Bryony sacrificed her career to speak out, not only to achieve justice and peace from a bullying and abusive colleague, but to help those following in her wake. She is not only a wonderful horsewoman; she has made her mark on the history of the sport. Bryony was the first female jockey to win a Grade 1 at the Cheltenham Festival; she remains the only female to win the King George and she has ridden the most winners in National Hunt by a female jockey. Two days after the end of the B.H.A.’s inquiry against Dunne, she won the Tingle Creek at Sandown, where the crowd displayed their obvious support for her. She is a lost asset. That she continues in her professional is a tribute to her resolve and dedication.
Owners and trainers outside of the stables of Paul Nicholls and Lucy Wadham should look beyond their bias and employ her more often than presently is happening. The sport as a whole owes her plenty.