26 WWW.THEFIELD.CO.UK
other industries and, indeed, horse racing
has never discriminated against women,
viewingthefemalepoundtobetheabso-
lute equal of the male pound. In racing,
moneytalks,andif youhaveit,youwillbe
heard, regardless of gender, social status,
ethnicoriginoreven tablemanners.Rac-
ing as a luxurymarket certainly provides
equalopportunitiesforalltopartwiththeir
money.Butwhenit comestoearningmoney
from racingas a career,the opportunities
untilrecentlyhaveseemedratherlessequal.
It is importanttounderstandthecontextfor
this:whoeveryouare–duchessorlottery-
winning dustman– horse racing is more
thanhappytoreceiveyourfinancialcontri-
butions.Actuallytakingmoneyoutofracing,
byearninga living in the industry, is much
moredifficult.
Female trainers have been the first to
take on the challenge, with Jenny Pitman
of equestrian events such as
dressage, eventing and show
jumping where women have
always beenevery bit asgood as
the men. In the Olympics, the eques-
trianeventsaretheonlyoneswherewomen
competeasindividualsagainstmenonthe
sameterms.Yetthisreallyhasn’thappened
withhorseracing.LadyLloydWebberwon-
ders: “It is very often the case of matching
therighthorsetotherightjockeywhocould
well be a woman. Facts are facts, some
horses are very large andstrong so male
jockeys would probably be better suited
tothistypeofhorse,whetheranyonelikes
itornotmen arestronger.Haveyouseen
thesizeofFrankieDettori’shands?I would
have him on my strong-pulling three-
year-old anyday before a female jockey.
However, a sensitive or nervous type might
Womentrainers
aresosuccessful as
tobenotworthy of
comment
makingthe GrandNationalandtheChel-
tenhamGoldCupherownpay-daysinthe
1980s and ’90s. As every trainer knows,
dealing with the owners is usually more
challengingthanhandlingtheirhorses,and
thisdoubleswhenyou’rea woman.Sheena
West,whotrainssuccessfullyfromheryard
on the beautiful South Downs, ruefully
remembershavingthelate,charismatic,Sir
ClementFreudasanowner:“Oneevening
I washavingsupperwithhimandhewas
chasingmeroundhisdiningtablewitha bit
morevigorousdeterminationthanusual.On
aboutthethirdcircuitI said,‘Clement,dobe
careful, you’ll give yourselfa heart attack
at this rate.’ He replied, ‘My dear, if I do,
justwashuponeplate,oneglassand
onesetofcutleryanddisappear...’
Luckilyhe survived for several
moreseasons.”
Overcoming such encoun-
ters,womentrainersarenow
sosuccessfulastobenotwor-
thy of comment. But despite
breaking down barriers – and
indeedjumpingoverthem–since
the1970s,womenjockeyshavecontin-
uedtofindit difficulttogainequalstatus.
LadyLloydWebbercomments:“Thiscould
be an interesting topic. Equestrianism is
nearly the only sport in which men and
women compete equally.” She is thinking
Abovetop:Bryony
FrostwithFrodonafter
theirwinatCheltenham
inMarch2019.Above:
HMTheQueentalksto
herjockeysintheparade
ring at Royal Ascot
Racing
RACING FOTOS/REX FEATURES/SHUTTERSTOCK; GETTY IMAGES
