We want a woman to win Grand National in five years
CHELTENHAM GIRL POWER DELIGHTS RACING CHIEF WHO SAYS...
‘I don’t want any barriers to a female being champion jockey’
The profile of female jockeys has never been higher after glorious wins at the Cheltenham Festival for Bridget Andrews, Lizzie Kelly, harriet Tucker and Katie Walsh.
Now there is a desire within the sport to have a female champion jockey within five years, as well as a female winner of the Derby or Grand National.
The Festival results have been presented as evidence that female jockeys can compete on level terms, a sign of growing girl power in a maledominated environment.
Kelly and Andrews became the first professional females to win at the Festival and, significantly, three of the winners were supplied by Willie Mullins, Paul Nicholls and Dan Skelton — a trio of the biggest trainers in the sport.
Nicholls is also supporting the rise of Bryony Frost, who is a conditional jockey — an apprentice under the age of 26 who has not won more than 75 races. A conditional jockey is entitled to a reduction in the weight carried by his or her horse.
Those running the sport would love to see female jockeys regularly in action at the highest level, helping to promote the sport to a new audience. But the Festival results should not be seen as an indication that racing is even close to a level playing field.
Male and female jockeys get the same basic pay — £169.85 for every jumps ride and £124.40 for the Flat. But in terms of prize money, female riders are way off having a fair crack at the most lucrative prizes.
Jockey licences are held by just 48 women. That is 11 per cent of the pool, but females obtain less than six per cent of the rides. That figure drops to one per cent for the most valuable races.
Figures for the current jumps season illustrate that female jump jockeys are still not making a significant impact (see table, right). Frost is the only one to have more than 150 rides.
The British horseracing Authority (BhA) are determined that will change and are keen to harness the Cheltenham momentum, with chief executive Nick Rust setting out a five-year plan to have female jockeys succeeding regularly at the highest level.
Rust would also like the term female jockey ‘consigned to the scrapheap’ as a sign that both sexes are regarded equally. he said: ‘horseracing is one of the few sports where men and women compete on equal terms, and we have seen from the four successes at Cheltenham that women can more than cut it.
‘This is supported by a study over 14 years which showed that, once the quality of horse they ride is factored in, female jockeys are just as good as men.
‘We need to get under the skin of the sport and change perceptions. We are working towards a vision where there is true equality across all aspects of the industry.
‘Not only is this right, but it presents a great opportunity. In less than five years I want us to be able to say that there are no barriers to a female being crowned champion jockey, or winning the Derby or Grand National.’
The BhA have been reluctant to follow the example of the French, who give female jockeys a weight advantage when competing against men. The two-kilo allowance introduced in March 2017 has certainly had an effect. In the first ten months, rides for female French jockeys rose from 2,207 to 4,691 (up 112 per cent) and wins rose from 38 to 130.
British efforts have concentrated on education. Susannah Gill of Women In Racing said: ‘Research needs to continue to provide proper analysis of what female jockey performance is rather than what people think it is. Attitudes are beginning to change but it will take time.’
She says it is a myth that racing is too dangerous for females. ‘The element of danger in racing makes people think about female and male jockeys differently,’ she said. ‘You still hear that girls don’t bounce (when they fall) as well as boys, but there is no evidence of that. You could argue a female jockey riding at her natural weight will be in better physical shape than a male jockey riding well below his natural weight.’
If there is a potential champion around to fulfil Rust’s five-year plan, it is Flat jockey Josephine Gordon, the 2016 champion apprentice who works for leading Newmarket trainer hugo Palmer.
he gave Gordon opportunities to win her first Group races last year and said: ‘One of the main reasons I took her on was because my owners were so happy to use her. Nobody has ever said they don’t want Josie to ride their horse, but why should they? She is a top ten jockey. If you magic six other girls who could ride 100 winners a year, there would be many who would use them.
‘It is still a bit chicken and egg. Many of the good girls out there are still very young and are claiming apprentices.’
Converting those apprentices to senior female jockeys has been a problem. The drop-out rate is high. Richard Perham, senior jockey coach at the British Racing School, believes tougher criteria for granting apprentice licences will change that.
They need to. The clock is ticking on Rust’s five-year plan.