Horse racing’s most famous female jockeys: a celebration of Aintree heroes, Classic winners and brave pioneers
The most famous female jockeys who have made horse racing history: from a lady racing side-saddle in 1804 to the groundbreaking endeavours of the likes of Rachael Blackmore and Saffie Osborne
Classic-winning Saffie Osborne is the latest in a long line of famous female jockeys to have broken the mould and make horse racing history.
The sport of kings is no longer just a man's world, as a succession of pioneering women have proved over the past 50 years.
So who are the most famous female jockeys in racing history? From Grand National hero Rachael Blackmore to multi-winning Hayley Turner, we celebrate the groundbreaking achievements of some of the women riders who have changed the shape of horse racing.
Famous female jockeys and the key milestones
- 1804: Alicia Thornton makes a groundbreaking debut for female jockeys, riding side-saddle in a race held at York
- 1967: Val Greaves becomes the first ever female jockey to ride in a Flat race under Rules and the pioneering rider would later become the first professional to win over jumps
- 1972: The first race for female jockeys takes place at Kempton, won by amateur Meriel Tufnell, Britain’s first female champion jockey
Meriel Tufnell is Britain’s first female champion jockey in 1976
- 1976: Diana Thorne becomes the first female winner under National Hunt rules when she beat her father John in a photo finish for a hunter chase at Stratford.
- 1976: Jenny Stamp is the first woman to ride at the Cheltenham Festival, partnering 25-1 shot Fair Gleam in the National Hunt Chase
- 1977: Charlotte Brew finds fame as the first woman to ride in the Grand National, although it would take another five years before Geraldine Rees became the first to finish in the Aintree showpiece, finishing eighth on Cheers
- 1978: Karen Wiltshire makes history as the first female professional to ride a winner on the Flat, at Salisbury for her boss Bill Wightman. The same year, Lorna Vincent enjoys a breakthrough first female victory against fellow professionals over hurdles at Exeter racecourse
- 1983: Caroline Beasley is the first female jockey to ride a Cheltenham Festival winner, coming home first in the Foxhunter Chase. Three years later, the amateur then scored a pioneering victory over the Grand National fences with the same horse in the Fox Hunters’ Chase at Aintree.
Caroline Beasley was the first female jockey to ride a Cheltenham Festival winner
- 1984: Linda Sheedy enters the record books aboard Foxbury as the first female jockey to ride in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, partnering Foxbury
- 1987: Gay Kelleway, who a year earlier became the first woman to ride in a British Classic, makes history as the first woman to win at Royal Ascot
- 1993: Julie Krone is the first female jockey to win an American Classic
Julie Krone atop Colonial Affair after winning the Belmont Stakes in 1993
- 1996: Alex Greaves, daughter of pioneering Val (above) becomes the first female jockey to ride in the Derby at Epsom, going on to become the first female Group One winner the following year riding Ya Malak, finishing in a dead-heat with Kevin Darley in the Nunthorpe Stakes at York.
- 2006: Nina Carberry is the first female jump jockey in Great Britain and Ireland to win a Grade One, taking the Champion Bumper at the Punchestown Festival on the Noel Meade-trained Leading Run. She became the leading female rider at the Cheltenham Festival with seven career winners.
- 2008: Debutante champion apprentice Hayley Turner goes on to become the first female jockey to ride 100 winners in a year. In 2011 she becomes the first to ride a Group One winner outright and earns her place in racing history as the first woman to ride 1,000 winners. The only other female jockey to do so is Hollie Doyle.
- 2012: Another famous female jockey is Katie Walsh, whose third-place finish in the Grand National on Seabass was a significant milestone as the highest ever finish for a female rider
Katie Walsh finishes third in the 2012 Grand National
- 2015: Jump jockey Lizzie Kelly becomes the first woman to win a Grade One over fences - aboard Tea For Two at Kempton – going on to become the first female professional to ride a winner at the Cheltenham Festival, landing the 2018 Ultima aboard Coo Star Sivola.
- 2015: Ascot’s Shergar Cup is won by an all-female team for the first time, with Sammy-Jo Bell earning the silver saddle award as the leading jockey at the race meeting.
- 2015: Michelle Payne is the first female jockey to win the famous Melbourne Cup in Australia, riding Prince Of Penzance to victory at odds of 100/1
- 2019: Bryony Frost earns a legion of new fans when becoming the first female jockey to win a Grade One at the Cheltenham Festival
- 2021: Rachael Blackmore makes global headlines as the first female rider to win the Grand National, followed by the Gold Cup the following season on A Plus Tard
Rachael Blackmore lifts the Grand National trophy in 2021 as the first female winner
- 2022: Hollie Doyle achieves the first placing in a British Classic then becomes the first woman to win a European Classic
- 2025: Aamilah Aswat makes her racing dream a reality as the first Black British female jump jockey, winning her first race a couple of months later
- 2026: Saffie Osborne becomes the first female jockey to win a British Classic, partnering the Joseph O’Brien-trained Highwayman to victory in the 250th running of the Doncaster race
Saffie Osborne becomes the first female jockey to win a British Classic in 2026
Look out for other leading Flat jockeys riding at the moment, including Joanna Mason and Gina Mangan, while the likes of Izzi Ryder, Fern O'Brien and Gina Andrews – sister of Cheltenham Festival-winning Bridget Andrews – continue to pave the way in jump racing.
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Jennifer is passionate at showjumping and her role as H&H’s showjumping editor has taken her around the world reporting from shows and interviewing riders, connections and those involved behind the scenes. Since joining H&H from BBC Sport in 2005, she has written on every subject across the equestrian sphere — from turnout rugs to stable management — and has interviewed gold medallists, world champions and winners galore. She also has first-hand experience of working in the equestrian industry as a riding instructor and yard manager.