Latest news with #femalejockeys
Irish Times
16-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Rachael Blackmore cracked glass ceiling but presuming it's in smithereens for female jockeys is complacent
A week that began with the shock retirement of Rachael Blackmore , perhaps the most significant female figure to ever ride a racehorse , might end with a different kind of landmark success for another woman on the other side of the Atlantic. At a minute after midnight tomorrow, English jockey Saffie Osborne rides Heart of Honor in the Preakness Stakes, the second leg of the US Triple Crown, at Pimlico in Baltimore. It is the 150th Preakness. No woman has ever ridden the winner before. Julie Krone is the only woman to ever ride a US Triple Crown race winner, all of 32 years ago on Colonial Affair in the Belmont. It was a pioneering accomplishment, but not transformative as many hoped. The job of professional jockey in the US remains overwhelmingly male. That isn't the case in other racing jurisdictions around the world. Nearly half of New Zealand 's professional jockeys are women. Emma-Jayne Wilson is Canada's most successful rider. But closer to home the jockey's room remains largely a male preserve. READ MORE There's no contradiction in pointing that out and acknowledging the emergence of a much more encouraging picture for female jockeys in the past decade. Blackmore's trailblazing career has reframed perceptions of women riding over obstacles. Never again can tired old stereotypes about the life of a professional jump jockey being too tough for women get trotted out. Blackmore personified resilience as well as brilliance. Hollie Doyle, the most successful female jockey in British racing history, at Newmarket earlier this month. Photograph: Alan Crowhurst/Getty On the flat, Hollie Doyle is one of Britain's most recognisable riders. Last weekend she became the most successful female jockey in British racing history when reaching 1,023 winners there. Her most high-profile victory came in the 2022 French Oaks aboard Nashwa. Osborne's presence alone in the Preakness underlines a very different professional reality for women riders compared to not so very long ago. The significance of what she might achieve is attention grabbing. But her ability to perform on such a high-profile stage isn't an issue. At 23, Osborne is still at the early stages of her career. Like any other young rider, the scale of what she might achieve could come down to getting on enough good horses to showcase her talents. Saffie Osborne, whose presence alone in the Preakness underlines a very different professional reality for women riders compared to not so very long ago. Photograph: Nick Potts/PA The impact of a major victory such as a Preakness might propel an already polished professional to a new level. Once there, the evidence from Blackmore's career is that there can be no limit to where momentum takes you. How Blackmore has been such a singular presence is underlined by the struggles of other female riders. She really is the exception that proves the rule in Ireland. Outright prejudice mightn't prevail any more, but old habits still flourish. With estimates of more than half of all stable staff being women, the paltry number of female riders is woefully out of whack. Siobhan Rutledge was the only woman in the top 40 Irish flat riders last year with seven winners. She's now trying her luck in Australia. Apart from Blackmore, the most successful rider over jumps was the amateur, Jody Townend. Siobhan Rutledge is now trying her luck in Australia. Photograph: Alan Crowhurst/Getty It's true that Blackmore has cracked the glass ceiling forever. But presumptions that it is in smithereens smack of complacency. With her pioneering example, the odds are that eventually Irish racing will see another woman feature at the top of the tree, either on the flat or over jumps. Except that 'eventually' can be a very long time. It is in the sport's self-interest to try and make it sooner rather than later. The usual line is how racing is the one sport where male and female compete on an equal footing. It allows the sport to feel satisfied with itself, particularly with figures such as Blackmore and Doyle who succeed on a level playing field despite the obstacles put in front of them. But they are outliers, exceptions that prove the rule about the difficulty female jockeys face in securing the vital initial opportunities required to exhibit their talents and potential in the first place. No one's saying it's straightforward for young male riders either. But old habits die hard, and young female jockeys still must overcome conventional thinking that mightn't be actual prejudice but still smacks of bias. It is interesting to note then how French racing quietly persists with its 2017 policy of weight allowances for female riders in order to try to increase opportunities for them. It prompted predictable outrage and charges of sexism when introduced, although noticeably more outside France than in. Within a year though, there was a 165 per cent increase in the number of wins by female jockeys. The number of rides taken by women had doubled. One of the beneficiaries has been Marie Velon who started her career in 2017. Last year she made the top 10 on the French jockeys' table. Four places behind her was Maryline Eon. Velon's success also includes Group One glory with Iresine where no allowances are in place. French jockey Marie Velon at Ascot last year. Photograph: Alan Crowhurst/Getty This is cultural and behavioural change. More has been achieved with concrete efforts to level the playing field than by any amount of posturing. The contrast with Ireland now that Blackmore is retired is stark. There's currently a tide in the affairs of women in racing which can lead to fortune. But it should and can be hurried up. Examining the feasibility of implementing the French model here, in the hope of changing habits, could work out to everyone's benefit. Something for the Weekend Light as Air (5.00) is a half-brother to the Leger hero Continuous. He holds an Irish Derby and if that's realistic he should be a major player in a Navan handicap tomorrow off a mark of 86. His first run of the year at Leopardstown was luckless and eye catching. Earlier on Saturday, the Ballydoyle team's Ides of March (1.25) can lift a Newbury listed contest if not repeating the tardy starts of his last two races.
The Sun
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Trailblazing Rachael Blackmore smashed through racing's glass ceiling and opened doors for a whole new generation
HISTORY maker Rachael Blackmore has retired from riding having won it all and transformed the sport. Jump racing 's queen won every big race imaginable, including her groundbreaking Grand National win on Minella Times in 2021. 2 2 She became the first woman to win Aintree's famous race and smashed the glass ceiling several times over during her brilliant 16-year career. There have been women riding over jumps for nearly 50 years, with Val Greaves the first ever to ride a National Hunt winner in 1978. But the vast majority found it impossible to break through to a high level in the incredibly macho, male-dominated world of jumps racing. Wonder woman Blackmore, 35, not only proved she was good enough - and tough enough - to compete against men, but her rare talent took her to the very pinnacle of the sport. And she opened the door for a new generation of female jumps jockeys, who might otherwise have found it too daunting to try and make a career in one of the world's most dangerous sports. When she rode her first winner on Stoaway Pearl at a lowly midweek meeting at Thurles in February 2011, it lit the touch paper on a legendary career in the saddle. Very few trainers wanted to use her at the beginning and she rode just 12 winners between 2010 and 2016. But Shark Hanlon spotted some potential and he helped her get her foot on the ladder before she eventually caught the eye of top trainer Henry De Bromhead in 2018. It was a game changer for Blackmore, and she quickly discovered the brilliant mare Honeysuckle, who she rode to back-to-back Champion Hurdle wins at the Cheltenham Festival. She also won the Cheltenham Gold Cup on A Plus Tard and, in winning the Champion Chase and Stayers' Hurdle, she joined an elite group of jockeys to sweep the Festival's "big four" races, a feat even 20-time champion jockey AP McCoy couldn't manage. 'Fantastic time' - Rachael Blackmore & Paul Townend share backstage sneak peek of Late Late Show experience Blackmore said: 'A conversation between [owner] Eddie O'Leary and Henry de Bromhead in a taxi on the way to Aintree took my career to a whole new level. 'Eddie got me in the door at the stable, and what came next was unimaginable. Honeysuckle, A Plus Tard, Minella Times, among many others. 'All with one thing in common – Henry de Bromhead. He's a phenomenal trainer, who brought out the best in me. Without Henry, my story is very different.' But it was her historic win in the Grand National in 2021 aboard Minella Times that propelled her into the pantheon of sporting greats. Until that point, the closest a woman had come to winning the big one was in the movie National Velvet, when Elizabeth Taylor disguised herself as a man and stormed home in front. The only regret around that magical day is there was nobody at Aintree to cheer her home, with the meeting held behind closed doors during Covid. Life-changing win It was a life-changing win and she soon found herself being stopped for autographs and selfies in the street. She once received fan mail from a young girl in the UK who simply addressed the letter to: "Rachael Blackmore, Ireland." Her success wasn't just limited to the track, as she was crowned BBC World Sports of the Year and was named RTE's Sports Person of the Year in 2021. She suffered a serious neck injury after a fall at Downpatrick in September last year, and when she returned in December she struggled for form. She still ended up having a stellar season, riding 35 winners and banking over £1.2million in prize money, and her last winner came on Ma Belle Etoile at Cork on Saturday. Blackmore said: 'There are so many people to thank, too many to mention. I feel so incredibly lucky to have had the career I've had. 'To have been in the right place at the right time with the right people, and to have gotten on the right horses because it doesn't matter how good you are without them. 'They have given me the best days of my life and to them I am most grateful.' Whatever the future holds for Blackmore, she will go down as one of the modern greats and, even more importantly, she has changed the sport for the better.
