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The Top Female Jockeys in the History of Horse Racing

The horse racing world has historically been dominated by male jockeys, but female jockeys have made a name for themselves in this competitive sport.

These women have demonstrated that women can compete in the horse-racing industry as equals to men, winning some of the biggest races in the world. They have broken barriers and made way for future female riders in horse racing.

The following is a list of the most significant women in the history of horse racing:

1. Julie Krone

Krone was born on July 24, 1963, in Benton Harbor, Michigan.She grew up showing horses, following in her mother’s footsteps.

When she was 14 years old, she watched 18-year-old Steve Cauthen win the 1978 Triple Crown. This inspired her to become a jockey. In 1981, at Tampa Bay Downs in Florida, she made her professional racing debut aboard a horse named Tiny Star. In a month's time, she had won her first race and soon became well-known in the horse racing world for her successes.

In 1993, Krone became the first and only female jockey to win the Belmont Stakes. She went on to win notable races at the Gulfstream Park, Monmouth Park, The Meadowlands, and Atlantic City Race Course. During her career, she won 3,704 races—making her perhaps the most successful female jockey in American history.

Krone retired from racing in 1999 but returned to competition in 2002. In 2003 Krone became the first woman to win -  Breeders' Cup race. However, she retired again in 2004 due to injuries.

Krone became the first female jockey to be inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, winning the 1993 ESPN’s Professional Female Athlete of the Year and in 2004 receiving the Women’s Sports Foundation’s Wilma Rudolph Courage Award.

2. Michelle Payne

Michelle Payne was born on September 29, 1985, and grew up in Miners Rest, Australia. As the youngest of ten children, she followed in her older siblings’ footsteps by becoming a jockey—the eighth child of ten to do so.

At 15 years old, Payne took part in her first professional race. She made her racing debut at Ballarat aboard Reigning, a horse trained by her father.

Payne suffered a serious fall at age 18 that resulted in a fractured skull and bruised brain. Fortunately, she was able to recover and continue her racing career.

In 2015, Michelle Payne became the first female jockey to win Australia's most prestigious horse race, the Melbourne Cup. Her victory was made more memorable by the fact that she had odds of 100-1 on her before the start of the race. So far in her career, she has won over 700 races.

Payne is currently the only person in Victoria to hold a dual license as both a trainer and a jockey. She has trained over 30 winners so far.

In 2016, Payne became the first female to be awarded the Chairman's Award in the Australian Racing Hall of Fame. The same year she was also awarded the Don Award at the Sport Australia Hall of Fame awards. In 2017, she received the Longines Ladies Award and in 2021 she received a Medal of the Order at the Australia Day Honours.

3.  Jamie Kah

Jamie Kah was born on December 7, 1995, in Adelaide Hills, Australia. Her parents were Olympic speed skaters and she grew up in an athletic environment.

Kah began a riding apprenticeship in 2011; she rode in her first race in March 2012, and just 14 days after her debut win, she had another victory at Clare. She ended her first season of racing by winning the Adelaide Jockeys’ Premiership. In 2019, Kah won the Group One Cup race after winning two more Premierships in a row.

In October 2020, Kah was ranked the best female jockey in the world, achieving yet another big milestone to become the first woman to win 100 races in a Melbourne Metropolitan Racing season. Her partner is fellow horse jockey Clayton Douglas, with whom she has a property on the Mornington Peninsula, where they keep retired racehorses.

4. Donna Barton Brothers

Donna Barton Brothers was born in Alamogordo, New Mexico, on April 20, 1966. Her mother and both of her siblings were professional jockeys.

In 1987 the brothers began a professional racing career. During her career, she won several major races including the Edgewood Stakes, Louisville Handicap, Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes, and Churchill Downs Debutante Stakes. She was leading female rider in the nation by the number of wins at that time.

Brothers retired in 1998 with 1,130 career wins and went on to marry Frank Brothers, a Thoroughbred trainer, with whom she started a career in broadcasting.

Brother's role in broadcasting has evolved since she started working for NBC Sports. She now works for NBCSN, and has covered a variety of equestrian events, including the Breeder's Cup Championships and the Kentucky Land Rover Three Day Event. She has also conducted post-race interviews from horseback and hosted pre- and post-event shows.

5. Nina Carberry

Nina Carberry was born in Ashbourne, Ireland on July 21, 1984. She comes from a great racing family; her father is jockey Thomas Carberry.

Carberry has had some impressive wins including her first Cheltenham Festival aboard Dabiroun in the Fred Winter Juvenile Novices’ Handicap Hurdle in 2005. Carberry won the Cross Country Handicap Chase three consecutive times from 2007-2009. In 2011, she became the second woman to win the Irish Grand National.

Carberry has seven Cheltenham Festival victories to her name. She has the most wins of any female rider in the festival's history. Over her career she has won 400 races, more than any female National Hunt rider. Carberry retired from horse racing in 2018.

Female jockeys have made a significant impact on horse racing. They have proven that women can be just as capable of riding as men, opening doors for other female riders to be taken seriously in the sport. The rise of streaming options and sports websites has increased the popularity of horse racing, drawing new players and viewers into the sport.