Female jockeys were once a rarity in the riders’ change rooms.<\/p>\n
But at country race meetings across northern Western Australia, they are now often finding themselves in the majority.<\/p>\n
It is a rare sport where men and women compete in an even playing field against each other for the same prize money.<\/p>\n
This season, women have taken out seven of the 10 cup races across the Pilbara, Kimberley and Gascoyne.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Elisha Whittington rides in the Carnarvon Cup on the horse Who’s Your Mama. (ABC News: Kelsey Reid)<\/p>\n
Last month, just a few months into her apprenticeship, 21-year-old Holly Nottle claimed the Port Hedland Cup on seven-year-old gelding Reginald.<\/p>\n
“The feeling I can’t really describe,” Nottle said.<\/p>\n
Holly Nottle is a first-year jockey apprentice. (ABC News: Kelsey Reid)<\/p>\n
Women on the rise across Australia<\/p>\n
Women are taking to the sport in record numbers, easily outnumbering men in racing apprentice programs at clubs across the country.<\/p>\n
This year’s WA apprentice intake will see an entire female cohort, while the previous cohort saw 11 out of 12 places filled by women.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Women dominated the ranks both on and off field in this year’s northern WA race season. (ABC News: Kelsey Reid)<\/p>\n
Those numbers are reflected across the country.<\/p>\n
In Victoria, 83 per cent of apprentices are women, while the figure sits at 80 per cent in Queensland and 72 per cent in New South Wales.<\/p>\n
After 8,000 career starts and 17 years racing, 34-year-old Kyra Yuill remembers a time where she was the only person in the female jockey room.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Kyra Yuill says jockeys have to work hard to make it in the industry. (ABC News: Kelsey Reid)<\/p>\n
The first female jockey to win the Perth Cup, Yuill has led the way for the next generation.<\/p>\n
But she said the industry was “very, very tough.”<\/p>\n
“When you’re in it, you’re in it for a hard yakka time,” she said.<\/p>\n
“I don’t mind working hard and I know a lot of those girls in that room are the same.<\/p>\n
“If they prove themselves in the first six months, like a lot of them have done \u2026 they’ll keep punching goals.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It has been 10 years since Michelle Payne won the Melbourne Cup, and there has not been another female winner since. (ABC News: Kelsey Reid)<\/p>\n
In her first year back in the saddle after having two daughters, Kate Pateman was named Country Racing WA’s 2025 Leading Jockey.<\/p>\n
Pateman took out this year’s Gascoyne Junction Cup, 945 kilometres north of Perth, where all six races were won by women.<\/p>\n
“It’s always been a male-dominated industry, but the girls are coming in and they’re coming in strong,” Pateman said.<\/p>\n
“We all get along \u2014 enemies on the track but mates in the room.<\/p>\n
“It’s a very equalising field, whether you’re female, whether you’re male, doesn’t matter if your horse has the ability.”<\/p>\n
Kate Pateman (left) returned to racing this year, after taking time out to have her two children. (ABC News: Kelsey Reid)<\/p>\n
Port Hedland Cup winner Holly Nottle grew up on a farm in the Wheatbelt, riding horses every day before and after school.<\/p>\n
“I’ve been riding all my life, it’s been great,” she said.<\/p>\n
With no racing background in her family, Nottle said she had learned much from veterans like Yuill and Pateman from their experiences on the track.<\/p>\n
“The other senior girls that still come here, they’re all so supportive of us and they like to give us little tips and tricks of each track,” she said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Women make up more than 70 per cent of jockey apprentices across Australia. (ABC News: Kelsey Reid)<\/p>\n
Size, family ties bring women in<\/p>\n
Victorian Jockeys Association chief executive Matthew Hyland said jockeys traditionally came to the sport through family connection and childhood hobbies.<\/p>\n
“Young females are more likely to participate in pony club or equestrian pursuits, and that then transfers [into horse racing],” Mr Hyland said.<\/p>\n
“It gives them that initial introduction to the equine world, and then they see the opportunities in the racing industry, where they can compete on a level playing field.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Weight restrictions are thought to be a reason for the increase in female involvement in the industry. (ABC News: Kelsey Reid)<\/p>\n
Sharyn Lancaster heads up the jockey racing program for Racing WA in Perth.<\/p>\n
She said weight restrictions could also be a reason more women were taking to the sport.<\/p>\n
“Women can tend to be a lot smaller than men,” she said.<\/p>\n
“Obviously, we’re determined by strict weight requirements if you want to have a successful career as a jockey, so the ones that are coming through sort of meet the requirements to have a successful career are the ones that are female.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
First-year jockey apprentice Holly Nottle won this year’s Port Hedland Cup riding Reginald. (ABC News: Kelsey Reid)<\/p>\n
Michelle Payne effect<\/p>\n
Ten years since Michelle Payne stormed to victory in the Melbourne Cup, she remains the only female jockey to do so in the 164-year history of Australia’s biggest horse race.<\/p>\n
In 2024, the field of 23 had four female jockeys.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Jockeys often enter the racing industry through family connections and childhood hobbies like pony club. (ABC News: Kelsey Reid)<\/p>\n
With more female jockeys rising through the ranks, Sharyn Lancaster believes a second female cup winner is imminent.<\/p>\n
“Watch this space because you’re going to see more and more females compete in the Melbourne Cup,” Ms Lancaster said.<\/p>\n
“Ultimately, that’s going to result in a female winner again.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Female jockeys were once a rarity in the riders’ change rooms. But at country race meetings across northern…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":148418,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[68263,68260,68259,68265,68261,68262,8029,68264,11122,68258,68266,3004,101,56,54,55,17285],"class_list":{"0":"post-148417","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-racing","8":"tag-broome-cup","9":"tag-carnarvon-cup","10":"tag-female-jockeys","11":"tag-female-melbourne-cup-winner","12":"tag-gascoyne-junction-cup","13":"tag-hedland-cup","14":"tag-horse-racing","15":"tag-kalgoorlie-cup","16":"tag-melbourne-cup","17":"tag-pilbara-news","18":"tag-pilbara-sport","19":"tag-racing","20":"tag-sports","21":"tag-uk","22":"tag-united-kingdom","23":"tag-unitedkingdom","24":"tag-wa-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148417"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148417\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/148418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}