Female jockeys inspiring the next generation of women in horse racing
50% of the industry is now made up of women
Horse racing is one of the few sports where men and women compete in the same arena.
But it's female jockeys who are now inspiring the next generation of women in racing - on and off the racecourse.
Over the last year, we've seen huge triumphs from women in the sport.
Rachael Blackmore dominated Cheltenham Festival 2021, Hollie Doyle rode her personal best 172 winners and Bryony Frost became the first woman to win the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day.
More women are now venturing into the industry - with 50% of all roles taken up by women.
"It's really promising to see an equal playing field between both men and women in the sport", says Tallulah Lewis, Chair of the organistion Women In Racing.
"We have about 70% of women coming through the racing schools who are then looking to go on to become jockeys.
"So having them female jockeys there as aspirational figures is so important and is a great way for us to get behind women in a sport."
Jockeys are jockeys
The way female jockeys want to be labelled is changing.
Differentiating jockeys by their gender is becoming a thing of the past - and women in the industry are fully behind it.
Talluah continues: "We see all jockeys as jockeys. In the last few years we've seen jockeys who are femalees saying they don't want to be defined as "a female jockey".
"We're seeing that messaging come through more and more now. We absolutely support it and I think it's great because they're just there to do their job."
Last year, women outperformed men at Cheltenham Festival.
Of the 28 winners over the four-day Festival, 14.3% were ridden by women, despite only 9.2% of the rides being taken by women.
Behind the scenes
It's not just women on the racecourse who are galloping to success.
The number of stud staff, trainers and even those working behind a desk who are women is on the rise too.
There are also female executives in all of the top positions across the sport.
Talluah adds: "Our chair of the British Horseracing Authority (BCA) is Annamarie Phelps, our Chief Executive officer of the BCA is Jullie Harrington, we've got racecourses run by women.
"What I'd love to see is that it becomes a bit more mainstream because it's already there and it's already happening.
"We need to show that the sport is fully accessible and open to any woman wanting to reach the top."
Racing Home project
A new project, funded by The Racing Foundation, has recently launched to support women in the industry with starting their own family.
The Foundation has provided £140,000 to Women In Racing to help become a cultural leader in ensuring women don't have to choose between their career and having children.
The racing Home project will see a raft of measures introduced to open the conversation around pregnancy, maternity and parenthood - and create a support network for women in the industry who decide to take the step.
"It's so important for the sport to have provisions for working mothers.
"We want to be a leading example of what you can have in place for women who choose to have a family or men and aprents and how the sport can support them."
The project also seeks to ensure that people have an understanding of their rights and are embraced inclusively by racing’s employers who will see the benefit of investing in the working practices and quality of life of working parents.