Female Jockeys

[Denise]

I've got two daughters that ride exceptionally well. One is an avid fox hunter and she can ride the pants off (so to speak) every man in the hunt field. I'm like Denise and Bill from WA, don't judge a book by its cover. I keep TVG on throughout the day and my impression is that on the east coast we're seeing more women jockeys. One of the riders (*.*Homeister, Jr?) took a bad fall at Suffolk Downs, but is back now at Tampa Bay. She rides a good deal of winners.

Shammy, it's good to hear your girls ride regularly on the hunt circuit.
One of the best female jockeys I've ever seen regularly rode (prior to turning pro) at the MidAtlantic point to point/hunt meets: Anna Rose Napravnik. That kind of race riding, you can never learn on a flat oval.

Rosemary Homeister rides at Delaware during that meet, and just won her 2000th race, down at Tampa. The hall of fame trainer, Jonathan Sheppherd, uses her pretty regularly on his grass horses. In fact, Rosie won a nice stakes race this year on one of Sheppherd's good mares, Royal Pleasure, at Kentucky Downs, the daunting Euro style grass course that a lot of track rat riders would pale at the thought of attempting the downhill/uphill sidewinders, so common at hunt meets. Right turns, left turns, through the woods, over streams and jumps: you'd be amazed at how some of those "weaker" gals handle 2.5 miles over fences. There are some amazing junior riders who cut their teeth on that stuff, but I guess we're lucky on this side of the country. You don't see steeplechase and P2Ps west of Tennessee. No wonder the CA guys like Louis have no clue about how good girl riders can be, given the chance.
I daresay Cordero and Shoemaker wouldn't handle 3 miles with a big timber horse quite so deftly.

[Bill from WA]

Louis might want to take a look at this old article in Sports Illustrated. Bill Shoemaker was very encouraging to Vicky Aragon, and obviously didn't think she belonged in the kitchen as opposed to the racetrack.

http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/ ... /index.htm

Bill

[griff]

Louis

Do you know why females have small feet?

griff

[bdw0617]

the mistake you make with the whole strentgh arguement is assuming every male jockey is a stretch rider.

Look at Tyer Baze and Joe Talameo. Joe Talemo is as finess a rider as any woman rider in the country. he's a very talented rider, but you won't ever mistake him for chop chop or gogo. he does this thing.

this is a very silly arguement.

[Shammy Davis]

Griff asked Louis:

Do you know why females have small feet?

I don't know how Louis is going to answer this, but me thinks that when a woman puts her smaller foot in her mouth, it hurts less than when a man puts his "big" foot in his mouth.

[el camino]

[url]femalejockeys.com[/url]

[louis finochio]

Females have small feet & small hands because they are the smaller of the 2 species. Trees & plants are male & female, as their size determines their sex.When i see Shoemaker in heaven i will tell him to read this thread, he will get a big kick out of all your comments, Happy New Year to all, & to all goodnight.

[majxmom]

Comparing women jockeys to men jockeys presents a statistical problem.
It's very difficult for an average woman jockey to get a good start in this business compared to the average man. I know oodles of male owners and trainers who state unequivocally that they would never use a girl jock, and I know very, very few who are willing to use one even once. Sometimes it's because they think they don't have the talent, and sometimes it's because the older men are of a different generation and refuse to risk a girl's life.

But with those kinds of numbers against her, it's hard for a woman jockey to get the decent mounts she needs to build a reputation. If you get mounts no one can win with, and therefore you never win and don't even make a good showing, you develop a reputation --however unfair-- of being a lousy jock. A new jock only has a few weeks to show that he/she can get a little more out of a mount than one might expect. After that, they are either on the way up or on the way out.

[Strategic Maneuver]

Oh thank you Shammy!!!!!

[ratherrapid]

how many years in a row did Cyndi Noll lead the jock standings at Prairie Meadows? and, Debbie Freeman at Blue Ribbon.

[wilf]

Louis you may get to heaven sooner than you think;now get in the kitchen and stay there! Half of my lifetime winners were ridden by females and I take a lot of stick from the male riders but funnily enough they don't pay my bills. Fort Erie has been a great proving ground for starry-eyed would be female jockeys. Emma Jane won her first race there and maybe Chantal did too and both have a great work ethic and Chantal is a vogue model on the side, Cory Clark and Francine Villeneuve were both leading riders at the meet. The notion that strength has anything to do with race riding actually flew out of the window with a tiny quiet chap who never weighed more than 100 pounds soaking wet and yet won over 8000 races. Shoemaker's comment probably came from his very dry wit as he did more on a horse by sitting still than Hawley did by hollering and screaming flailing his whip,even Sandy would agree! As a post script here is something hot off the press. Yesterday in Britain Hayley Turner became the first woman in history to win 100 races in a calendar year over there. Girls were never given any opportunities until recent years in Britain but many changes have been made in the mentality of the racing heirarchy including all-weather tracks being implemented which gives owners many more chances to run their horses than before as in years past only hurdlers and steeplechasers raced from mid-november thru mid-march. Is my breakfast ready yet Louis?

[griff]

Louis

Women have small feet so they can stand closer to the stove

griff

[el camino]

This may sound bad but I always thought if the right female rider came along it could really help the sport. One with talent, of course, but also one that had sex appeal, I don't mean the broodmare either. Look at what Danica Patrick has done for her sport and although she wasn't a top tennis player, Anna Kornikova did alot to draw attention to the sport.

The male riders can't do this because 1, their men and 2, atleast in NA, the male athletes that garner national attention are 6'2 200lbs. (Although my wife tells me Gary Stevens was hot and her new fav is Alan Garcia)

It's only the people in the industry who are impressed by their athletiscim, it doesn't transcend. I think a female rider could. Julie certainly did for a time. I personally was a fan of Rosemary Hoemeister on and off a horse but Chantal Sutherland is the one who could be our Danica Patrick. Now that she is Cali especially. I apollogize if I offended anyone jsut please don't compare to Louis.

[louis finochio]

Bill: say hello to Vicky Aragon, we were good friends when she was an apprentice years ago, tell her i am still selling my boots i sold her years ago. I call Vicky a fire cracker, she is pleasant to be around, & has the charisma to boot. Happy New year. Louis.

[Shammy Davis]

Griff posted:

Women have small feet so they can stand closer to the stove

There is absolutely no chance either you are Louis will ever be invited for dinner at our house. My wife's comment to this post was terse. "If Griff is married, his wife must be a saint. I hope she sends the horse's _ss to Mickey D's for all his meals."

My thought on this is simple. With microwaves, there is no need for anyone to stand in front of an oven. Plus, it gives us all more time to ride.

Louis posted:

Bill: say hello to Vicky Aragon, we were good friends . . .

"Were" is the operative word with your post, Louis. As soon as she reads this thread, you are in the "dog house" or at the very least the "shed row."