British racing has been described as “backward” in the opportunities it offers female jockeys by Jamie Kah, a successful rider in Australia who will compete in Saturday’s Shergar Cup at Ascot.
Kah, one of three women to finish in the top six jockeys by number of wins in Australia last season, was shocked to hear there has been talk of giving a weight allowance to horses ridden by women in this country.
“I think that’s absolutely ridiculous,” Kah said. “I’ve come from Australia, where the trainers have come around to females many years ago, so we’ve all been given a really fair shout. It’s as fair as it’s ever been. If you’re good, if you put in the time and work, you’ll get rides.
“Here, it’s very different. They’re very backward, I reckon, with the times. They’re not as accepting of female riders and there are some brilliant riders here. I’ve watched Hayley [Turner] and I think she rides as good as any of the boys here.
“I can’t get over how backwards it is. If you ask females back home, they’ll all blow up about the idea of getting a three-kilo allowance. But maybe something does need to happen here. Watching these riders, there’s nothing separating them in my opinion, besides opportunities.”
The 22-year-old Kah was joined in Australia’s top six last season by Linda Meech and Raquel Clark. Further down the list, the top 50 was dominated by men and Australian racing was famously described as “chauvinistic” by Michelle Payne when she won the Melbourne Cup in 2015.
But the prospects for women are evidently brighter there than in Britain, where only two women are in Flat racing’s top 50 and neither are in the top 10. There has been discussion about whether women should be allowed to claim some weight off their horses, copying the initiative that has provided women with so many new opportunities in France in the past two years. That idea was laughed at by Mark Zahra, another Australian here for the Shergar Cup.
The 37-year-old said: “The way Jamie’s riding in Australia at the moment, I don’t want to be giving her any weight. On Saturday at Moonee Valley, women won five on an eight-race card. They’re going quite well. I would say at the moment they’re doing well enough without it.”
Also in action at Ascot on Saturday will be Nanako Fujita, the only female jockey licensed by the Japan Racing Association, which runs the highest-quality section of the sport; other women compete at regional race-meetings. Fujita declined to discuss whether the weight allowance, recently announced in Japan, was a good idea but added: “If we could have more female riders, I would be very pleased.”