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the few sports where the same. It doesn’t matter ’s me or A P McCoy, the ings are the same, it’s percentage, so that’s in terms of working in a nated sport, I don’t see rier. Men are generally and we are treated the camaraderie of the oom is great. y sexism I’ve ever had is and that’s easy because n just block people.” ie admits she lives and thes the racing world, here everything from er daily diet and fitness has to be tailored to perfection. “I get up at 6am every day and by 6.45am I am mucking out the horse boxes – I love it,” he laughs. “I watch my t carefully and eat light se being weighed is a of the job.” ltenham Festival, she ways the one the racing y goes wild for. just a buzz and electricthe place,” she says. ting to be there because s of horses you get in which is just unmissaeally magical week.” RACING’S youngest rising star Bryony Frost, 22, is tipped to become the greatest ever female jockey.
She’s had no fewer than 30 winners since April last year.
On Boxing Day she became the second woman – after Lizzie Kelly – to win a Grade One race when she claimed victory on Black Corton at Kempton.
Now at Cheltenham she has been lined up for several winning rides, including the Gold Cup.
Many are tipping her to become the first female jockey to win the Grand National.
And as her father Jimmy rode Little Polveir to victory at Aintree in 1989, her family is steeped in national hunt folklore.
Bryony explains: “Look, I’m just me, a girl from Devon. I think it’s just really cool that people are saying that about me. It’s awesome. But all I can do is keep doing what I’m doing and keep taking a step forward to wherever it takes me. No-one knows what’s around the corner.
“I do believe that whether you are a boy or a girl in racing you have to have the opportunities there. It doesn’t matter what gender you are, it’s all about the support you have around you.”
Bryony will again ride Black Corton – a horse she’s already had seven victories on – at Cheltenham for leading trainer Paul Nicholls this week.
She says: “Who could believe I’d have a partnership like that? I don’t think I will ever in my career find a horse like that. I am so proud of my team for keeping me there.”
Bryony says: “What a lot of people think of as a normal child’s life didn’t exist for me. I lived and breathed my ponies and my horses. That’s the way I like to live my life. It’s my world. It’s what I love.
“Growing up I rode my ponies before I went to school in the morning. I went to school and counted down the clock until it was over.
“When I got back from school in the winter, when the nights closed in early, I had one of those lights on my head AS the biggest meeting of the racing calendar, all eyes will be on Cheltenham Festival when it kicks off tomorrow.
Every year thousands flock to the racecourse to watch some of the biggest names in horse racing take on the tough course.
And millions will tune in that cyclists wear to be seen in the dark and the ponies soon learned to follow the light through the woods.”
Bryony isn’t nervous about Cheltenham or the forthcoming Grand National and refuses to buy into the hype surrounding her.
She says: “When you get out there on to the track with your horse it’s what you’ve known your whole life. That’s your routine. It comes to you like the blood runs through your veins. “It’s as simple as breathing. The hard work is done, trying to prove – whether you are boy or girl – that you are good enough. “What you are saying is, ‘Give me the chance. I’ll prove it to you. I’ll make all the effort you have put in for the last six months to get this horse on this track worth it. I’ll not mess it up. I’ll make sure the last piece of the jigsaw fits for you.’” Bryony adds: “Becoming champion jockey isn’t a goal because it’s uncontrollable. If it happens, it happens.
“But I have a metaphor in my life and it’s that if you look at the top of the mountain, it is a very long way up.
“So if you keep taking a step forward every time, where you finish is where you finish and well done for it. If you look at the top and don’t get there, you’ve failed and that’s rubbish.” to watch what bookies are branding a betting bonanza – as each year more cash is splashed. But this year it’s two exciting female jockeys who are riding high on everyone’s lips. Here JENNIFER DUNKERLEY meets two ladies aiming to beat the men and go for gold.