Women rule the world

April 12, 2021

Matt Jones, The Daily Telegraph

It was a huge 24 hours for women around the racing world when Jamie Kah and Rachael Blackmore created history.

Kah started it all with a historic win on Cascadian in the Doncaster Mile, for two reasons. She was the first female to win the great race since it was first run in 1866 and the first woman to win a Group 1 race for global powerhouse Godolphin.

And she told Hugh Bowman before the race how it would all go down, showing the confidence that comes with being a runaway leader in the Melbourne jockey premiership.

“I was talking to Hughie (on Mugatoo) in the gates and said ‘I’m going to follow you. I hope you win but if you don’t I am going to win’,” she said.

The Grand National win by Blackmore on Minella Times was even longer coming. The Irishwoman was the first female to win the Grand National in its 182-year history.

“I don’t feel male or female right now. I don’t even feel human,” she said.

There have been plenty of calls to not even call the ladies ‘female’ riders and just jockeys like the boys, but the history has to be acknowledged.

It won’t take long before the ladies just have their names in the race book and not “Miss” or “Ms” or “Mrs” in front of their name.

Paul Webster, agent for champion jockeys Zac Purton and Corey Brown, tweeted a tongue-in-cheek response to the form of women jockeys around the world.

“In horse racing it’s not fair that women have to ride against men and there’s noweight concession,” he said.

“It’s time for an allowance to be brought in. From tomorrow, all male jockeys should be able to claim 2kg if there is a female rider in the race. Jumps as well.”

The ladies in our sport will only continue to do well and win big races all over the world.

Kah will be the first woman to win the Melbourne jockey title this season.

It’s going to be a while longer before it happens in Sydney as long as James McDonald, Tommy Berry, Nash Rawiller and Bowman are around, but it will happen one day.