There was not a lot of Thoroughbred racing in North America on International Women's Day, March 8. Wednesdays don't mean much anymore in the wider scheme of things. But at those far-flung tracks where the midweek still matters, women found a way to make an impact.
Sofia Barandela won the second race at the Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, her 10th of the year from just 83 mounts. The native of Mexico bucked all sorts of cultural prejudices trying to ride in her homeland before setting sail for Spain, where things were not much different. Barandela was winning her third straight aboard the 4-year-old gelding Keys Included for trainer Cesar Govea. He was claimed out of Wednesday's score, however, so we'll see if his new connections stick with a winning combo.
Six-time Delaware Park champ Carol Cedeno, a native of Puerto Rico, has averaged 100-plus wins a season since 2015. The mother of two is gearing up for another Delaware season by riding at Parx Racing, where Cedeno celebrated International Women's Day by winning the 10th race on the program. That brought her career win total to 1,203.
According to the Jockeys' Guild, women make up only about 6% of the membership, though a figure for the percentage of female trainers is harder to gauge since there is no national trade group. Even so, there seemed to be a representative collection who had a good day on International Women's Day, topped by Monica McGoey, who doubled with winners at Tampa Bay Downs and Gulfstream Park. Other winning trainers—spread across Parx, Mahoning Valley, Penn National, Tampa Bay, and Turf Paradise—included Candace Diehl, Carla Morgan, Bobbi Ann Hawthorne, Bonnie Lucas, Fenneka Bentley, Michelle Hemingway, and Lisa Baze.
Kathleen O'Connell, who is just two shy of catching Kim Hammond at 2,385 winners as North America's all-time leading female trainer, had a quiet afternoon at Tampa Bay on International Women's Day, going 0-for-3. O'Connell did win number 2,383 on March 5 at Tampa Bay, the same program Jennifer Quinones won two races, and Maria Bowersock added another.
In fact, that busy Sunday appeared to be a fairly productive day for women. Jockey Erica Murray and owner-trainer Denise Schmidt combined forces to win the finale at Fair Grounds with Chrompton, a son of California Chrome . Trainers Marissa Black won a race at Fonner Park, Ellen Jackson added one at Golden Gate Fields, and Jackie Riddle scored at Sunland Park.
Trainer Chelsey Moysey doubled last Sunday at Oaklawn Park, while veteran Lynn Chleborad also made the Oaklawn circle with win number 1,493 of her accomplished career. Both Lilia Gonzalez and Brittany Vanden Berg trained winners at Hawthorne Race Course that afternoon, while Elizabeth Dobles shared training honors at Gulfstream Park with Kathy Ritvo, whose victory with Mucho Macho Man in the 2013 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) continues to be the high bar for women in the profession.
On the day after International Women's Day, a relatively quiet March 9, Ellen Jackson went right back to work with two wins at Golden Gate Fields to go with a score from the Faith Taylor barn. Terri Pompay trained career winner number 558 at Gulfstream Park, and both Julie Pappada and Johanna Urieta sent forth winners at Mahoning Valley. At Santa Anita Park, Karen Headley trained her first winner of the year from a handful of starters for the estate of her late father, Bruce Headley. The day's action concluded at Charles Town, where Kristy Petty won a race to maintain a spot among the meet's top 10 trainers.
Such a genderized glimpse of a week in the life of the sport is of interest, but let no one be deceived. Thoroughbred racing remains a hidebound boys' club at the top of the game, especially when it comes to the training and riding of the equine athletes. The last time a female jockey was found among the North American top 10 in year-end mount earnings was 2014, when Rosie Napravnik made the elite list for a third straight season. The best since then has been Canadian ace Emma-Jayne Wilson, who ranked 51st in 2020.
Among trainers, Linda Rice brushed close to the top 10 in earnings in 2017, when her $7.1 million in stable earnings was in the same neighborhood of the numbers from Christophe Clement and Peter Miller. In 2022, Rice ranked 23rd, followed by rising talents Brittany Russell (37th) and Cherie DeVaux (71st). Josie Carroll (76th), Victoria Oliver (77th), and Kathleen Demasi (94th) also made the top 100 in earnings. The other 94 were guys.
If there is a formula to unlock more opportunities for women to rise in the ranks of jockeys and trainers, it is not apparent. Male jockeys at the top of the pyramid are staying fit and riding longer, ferociously protecting their hard-earned territory even as they age. At the same time, the most viable horses from a shrinking foal crop are increasingly concentrated in a relative handful of training stables led by men. Women are widely represented among exercise riders and, to a lesser extent, barn assistants. But the leap to the next level is daunting.
Carla Gaines, a stalwart among West Coast trainers for a quarter of a century, said she was a bit too busy to celebrate International Women's Day. And besides, she noted, "We're sort of behind the times in horse racing."
Gaines has a victory in the Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) with Dancing in Silks on her resume along with a gallery of graded stakes winners like Nashoba's Key, Bolo, and Foxysox. The current class of her Santa Anita stable is Closing Remarks, a 5-year-old mare who finished a troubled third in the Buena Vista Stakes (G2T) on March 4.
"For me, being a woman never seemed to be much of a handicap," said Gaines, who was a youth counselor before turning to racing. "I'm sure it was, but I didn't really notice. And to me, if it does it makes no sense."
Gaines observed that in the current economic climate opportunities for women to establish a foothold as trainers appear more plentiful at tracks benefitting from purses bolstered by some type of casino gambling. There's simply more to go around, allowing the male establishment to loosen its traditional grip. Gaines hopes for the day California racing, sustained without casino supplements, can be on equal footing with such flush jurisdictions as New York, Kentucky, and Arkansas.
"It's the economics more than anything preventing more women—or men for that matter—from getting a chance in the business," Gaines said.
"Still, if it's your passion, you can overcome obstacles if you want to do something bad enough," she added. "You need to get the horses and the clientele, but there's no reason you couldn't if you follow that passion."
