Women have an established and recognised standing in racing and the number of successes continue to rise. The total number of winners from (female) jockeys has increased by 76% from 2015 to 2019, despite a 2% drop in the number of (female) jockeys.
Talented, determined, resilient and brave, all in a day’s work for a jockey. Racing has no gender, it’s your skill and talent that counts. They are: #JustJockeys
With thanks to Mark Pattinson Racing, Sandown Park and Kempton Park.
Statistics correct as of Thursday 5th March 2020
Hollie broke the record for the most wins achieved by a female in a calendar year, finishing 2019 with an impressive 116 wins. She surpassed the record of 106 wins previously held by Josephine Gordon since 2017.
In 2008 Hayley became the first woman to ride 100 winners during a calendar year. Hayley’s hugely successful career, made up of over 800 wins, includes making history during Royal Ascot in 2019, becoming the first female in 32 years to win a race during the prestigious event since Gay Kellaway.
AGE: 26
CAREER WINS: 154
Nicola became the first female to ride in the QIPCO Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot in October 2019 on Raising Sands.
AGE: 19
CAREER WINS: N/A
Khadijah made history when she won became the British female Muslim to ride in a hijab when she won the Magnolia Cup Charity at Goodwood in July 2019. Her remarkable and inspiring was followed in film documentary Riding a Dream. You can find out more about her story here.
AGE: 24
CAREER WINS: 142
In 2019, Bryony became the first female jto ride a Grade 1 winner at the Cheltenham Festival partnering with Frodon in the Ryanair Chase and became the second female since Lucy Alexander in the 2012/13 season to be crowned Champion Conditional Jockey.
AGE: 29
CAREER WINS: 229
In the 2016/17 Jump season Rachael became the first female to win the Irish Conditional Jockeys’ title and is now in the running for the 2019/20 Irish Champion Jockeys’ title. In February 2020 Rachael won two Grade 1 races during the Dublin Festival at Leopardstown, something no other female had achieved before.
AGE: 26
CAREER WINS: 72
In 2015 Lizzie became the first female to win a Grade 1 race in Britain on Tea For Two in the Kauto Star Novices' Chase at Kempton Park. Lizzie was also the first female to ride a winner at the Cheltenham Festival aboard Coo Star Sivola in the Ultima Handicap Chase in 2018.
AGE: 24
CAREER WINS: 69
Page enjoyed success in the Grade 2 Pertemps Network Long Distance Handicap Hurdle at Haydock aboard Monbeg Theatre in 2018.
Throughout racing’s history, people with enormously varied backgrounds have contributed to the sport. Racing is the second most attended sport in Great Britain with a 40:60 female male gender split amongst racegoers and is built on the unique platform of men and women being able to compete equally.
Some areas of the sport could be seen as out of kilter with modern British society – from the composition of the sport’s leadership and the opportunities afforded to participants, through to the make-up of people attending and enjoying racing.