If you have ever watched any horse racing, you probably noticed that most of the jockeys are men. Yet, there are some inspiring cases of female jockeys that are well worth looking at.
These ladies have shown the world that women are just as capable of controlling a race horse as men, with some of them claiming memorable victories over the years.
Julie Krone
You may remember Julie’s name from the impact of her famous victory in the Belmont Stakes in 1993. Riding Colonial Affair to victory in this massive race, she became the first female jockey to win one of the renowned American Triple Crown events.
In fact, this is a feat that hasn’t been repeated since. It is worth remembering this fact when looking at BetAmerica.com Preakness Stakes odds, for example. Another distinction was when she became the first lady jockey to enter the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 2000.
Krone’s success continued in 2003, when she won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies on the horse called Halfbridled. Renowned for her toughness and determined spirit, Julie’s ability to keep going even after bad injuries have seen her named in various lists of the world’s most courageous athletes.
Hollie Doyle
This British flat jockey had a stunning year in 2019. At the age of 23 she had ridden 112 winners by the end of the year, making it the most successful UK riding season in history by a female jockey.
Strong and confident, Doyle has been riding horses since the age of 9 and won her first ever competitive ride. She follows in her father footsteps, as he was a flat jockey, while her mother was an Arab horse rider. Her grandparents bred horses, so she definitely has a love of riding running through her veins.
Hollie thinks that attitudes towards female jockeys are shifting and that trainers are ready to give more opportunities to ladies than they were before. She points out that it is a demanding sport and that she has suffered a number of nasty injuries over the year but always comes back ready to ride again.
Beverley Buckingham
Born in England, Beverley moved to Australia, where she would become the country’s leading female jockey. She was the first lady jockey to win over 900 races in the southern hemisphere.
In 1986, she got a letter from the Queen, congratulating her for winning the Queen’s Cup. Buckingham’s other achievements include becoming the first woman to ride in the prestigious Caulfield Cup.
Remarkably, she has recovered from a terrifying fall in 1998, when she broke her neck. The accident ended her competitive career and left her in a wheelchair. However, she has shown a remarkable fighting spirit to be able to walk on her own again.
Hayley Turner
Regarded as the best female jockey in Europe, Hayley is arguably the first woman to have managed to turn competitive horse riding into a successful, long term career in the UK. She has won many races during a thrilling career.
In fact, her legacy is the fact that many more female apprentice jockeys have appeared on the scene since she first showed that it was possible for women to do this job. In 2012, she became only the second woman to ride a horse in the Epsom Derby.
Among her achievements, Turner was the first lady to ride 100 flat race winners to victory during a single calendar year in the UK. The victory that clinched this memorable sequence was on Mullitovermaurice at Wolverhampton on the second last day of 2008. She rode in more than 900 races during that hectic year.
