Blackmore also became the first woman to be leading jockey at the Cheltenham Festival in March, where she racked up six victories.

She said receiving the World Sport Star award was “unbelievable”.

“The support has been incredible. I got such a kick out of being on that list of nominees. This is just incredible,” she added.

“My dreams were so big, but [this year] far surpassed anything I could have ever imagined.

“The reaction has been brilliant, I feel very privileged to have had the year I've had.”

The previous best by a female rider in the National was Katie Walsh's third place finish in 2012. Women were not permitted to ride in the race until 1977, and in total, only 19 female jockeys have competed.

Topping an online public vote, Blackmore beat off competition from Mexican boxer Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez, American football quarterback Tom Brady, Serbia's world number one tennis player Novak Djokovic, Jamaican sprinter Elaine Thompson-Herah, and Dutch Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen.

The 2020 winner of the award was Russian UFC fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov.

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The award will be presented during the BBC Sports Personality of the Year show live on BBC One on Sunday, Dec. 19.

Also in 2021, Blackmore became the first woman to ride the winner of the iconic Grand National with her success on Minella Times. Prior to Blackmore's win, the closest a female jockey had come to winning the world's most famous steeplechase race was Katie Walsh's third on Seabass in 2012.

In her post-race interview, Blackmore told the world: “I don't feel male or female right now, I don't even feel human. This is just unbelievable.”

Blackmore will be awarded the 2021 Irish Racing Hero Award at the annual Horse Racing Ireland Awards in December.

Other nominees for the 2021 BBC World Sport Star award include: boxing champion Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez, American football's Tom Brady, tennis' Novak Djokovic, five-time Olympic gold medal-winning sprinter Elaine Thompson-Herah, and Formula 1 driver Max Verstappen.

Read more at the Independent.

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Frost has been adamant that her reasoning for bringing this case is not a personal vendetta but rather a desire to change the weighing room culture for the generation that follows hers.

“If this case doesn't succeed, you can make your own judgement as to whether that culture is indeed going to change,” Yates said.

Dunne, who has been charged with three counts of alleged abusive or threatening behavior, faces a punishment ranging up to a three-year ban from the sport. Yates points out that since Dunne is 36 years old, that could effectively mean the end of his career.

As for the BHA, the way in which it has dealt with this case will be “held up to the light.” With leaks to the Sunday Times and the lengthy amount of time the process has taken, Yates suggests the organization will likely face judgement on its competency.

Perhaps the most wide-ranging consequences of this hearing are those that would touch the industry as a whole.

“Racing has quite rightly made much capital out of the fact that men and women in the sport compete on equal terms,” said Yates. “It rightly points out the progress that it feels has been made in leveling out what I think we would all agree was a very unlevel playing field to start off with. It's not just people who are interested in racing who are looking at this case. Again, it's very likely that were this case to show that there is a culture of bullying in the weighing room, for horse racing, all the work it's tried to do to level up between the genders over the last decade or so, it would be seen I think publicly that a lot of that work had either been undone or had fallen a long way short.”

Listen to the entire discussion on Nick Luck Daily.

The post ‘Fallen A Long Way Short’? BHA’s Jockey Bullying Case Could Have Wide-Ranging Consequences appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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The 44-year-old has been riding races since 1995, but walked away in 2011 to give birth to her two children.

Miyashita returned in 2016, the first female jockey to return to the saddle after childbirth.

In 2020, she became Japan's first female jockey to win 100 races in a single season.

The Japan Racing Association reports that only 93 active Japanese jockeys have achieved 1,000 wins.

【前人未到の1000勝達成】
名古屋競馬所属の宮下瞳騎手(みやした ひとみ・44歳)は、本日の名古屋競馬第2競走をリアルスピードで制し、地方競馬通算1000勝目を挙げました。国内の女性ジョッキーとして史上初の1000勝達成となります。おめでとうございます！ pic.twitter.com/LMs1h1KMNx

— 地方競馬全国協会(NAR)公式 (@nar_keiba) November 18, 2021

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Blackmore became the first woman to claim the Cheltenham Festival Leading Jockey title with six winners. She found Champion Hurdle success with Honeysuckle (GB) on Tuesday, a Triumph Hurdle score with Quilixios (GB) on Friday and also won races in the middle of the meeting with Bob Olinger (Ire) and Sir Gerhard (Ire) on Wednesday, and Allaho (Fr) and Telmesomethinggirl (Ire) on Thursday.

She became the first woman to ride the winner of the iconic G3 Grand National with her success on Minella Times (Ire) described as “historic” by President Michael D Higgins, “a truly amazing achievement” by An Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue T.D, saying, “You are once again a history maker and have done Ireland proud.”

Suzanne Eade, interim CEO of Horse Racing Ireland, said: “Rachael's achievements on two of jump racing's biggest stages are truly historic. Not only was she the first woman to ride the winner of a championship race at Cheltenham, but Rachael also became the first woman to win the Leading Jockey Award at the festival. It is remarkable that her six winners included five at Grade 1 level.

“Her Aintree Grand National victory made headlines all over the world and that accomplishment alone will resonate with so many within the racing industry and beyond.

“Rachael has become more than a role model; she is a true icon of our wonderful sport and a most fitting winner of the 2021 Irish Racing Hero Award.”

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In her post-race interview, Blackmore told the world: “I don't feel male or female right now, I don't even feel human. This is just unbelievable.”

Blackmore told BBC Sport on Tuesday that the victory still hasn't really sunk in.

“It's been such a whirlwind since it happened,” the jockey said. “I haven't really processed the fact that I have won the Aintree Grand National. I've watched the replay a few times – but it's still just hard to comprehend it all.”

She added that the gender disparity hasn't been a major issue for her in her career as a jockey.

“For me in racing it's been extremely level,” Blackmore told BBC Sport. “I think the achievements of Nina Carberry and Katie Walsh, when I entered the weighing room were so big that the gender thing was never an issue.

“I've just carried that forward. For me personally it's never been an experience I have had in racing in recent times, and that's something that racing should be very proud of.”

Female jockeys were first allowed to enter the Grand National in 1975, when the Sex Discrimination Act was passed. Blackmore is the 20th female jockey to compete in the race.

In case you missed it

Or in case you just want another look at history being made

Yes, @rachaelblackmor #GrandNational @RandoxOfficial #MinellaTimes pic.twitter.com/jR3HgFR8Au

— Aintree Racecourse (@AintreeRaces) April 11, 2021

Read more at BBC Sport.

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“Rosie is one of our favorites and it's great to have her back at the Fair Grounds to help shed light on such an important cause and to share her valuable insight with the fans,” said Fair Grounds senior director of racing Jason Boulet.

Napravnik, who retired in 2014 following her Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) win with Shanghai Bobby, is one of the winningest female jockeys of all-time in both victories and earnings. In 2012 she became the first female rider to capture the Kentucky Oaks (G1), guiding Believe You Can to victory, and she won the race again just two years later with Untapable. She is now married to trainer Joe Sharp and together they have two sons, Carson and Tucker.

“Before and after my riding career, I've been exposed to a lot of the other things that horses can do, and that's a big part of the reason why I'm so passionate about it and why it's so important to me,” Napravnik said about Thoroughbred aftercare. “I have a lot of experience in the other disciplines and I've seen retired racehorses really excel. I got my first off-the-track Thoroughbred back in 2008 and watching him transform, his potential, his trainability, his eagerness to do something else and to learn new things and please really inspired me. After riding so many of those horses and seeing how much they put out for us on the racetrack, it's just something I can't avoid making a part of my life.”

Recognizing the need for expanded Thoroughbred aftercare in Louisiana, Napravnik reached out to New Vocations, the largest racehorse adoption program in the country, in the fall of 2019.

“It was amazing how it all came together rather quickly,” said New Vocations Thoroughbred program director Anna Ford. “When we move into a facility it usually takes a lot longer. Rosie's connections and her relationship with the facility in Louisiana really sped up the process. We were able to get a start-up grant from the Right Horse to basically fund almost half of running the program for the first two years. That really helped us get on our feet. Then the Louisiana HBPA stepped in and they have really supported our efforts.”

In the “check-off” program, consenting Louisiana HBPA member owners have contributed $5 per starter to race horse aftercare. At the conclusion of the meet, Fair Grounds will then match that dollar amount.

On Saturday, Napravnik will join simulcast host Joe Kristufek to provide information on how to donate a horse, how to adopt a horse, and how fans can contribute to the cause. She will also share adoption success stories, which will be supported by video of retired racehorses thriving in their second careers.

“I want to help make sure that horses have the opportunity to do something after racing because they really deserve it,” Napravnik said. “They have so much life ahead of them when their racing career is over. I can't ignore that, especially in a place like Louisiana that has such a high demand for organizations to help bridge that gap.”

In addition to promoting Thoroughbred aftercare awareness, Napravnik will also offer her race-by-race selections via the “expert picks” on twinspires.com and the Twin Spires app, and on the simulcast feed.

“During my riding career, I never handicapped to pick the winner, I handicapped to make my horse the winner,” Napravnik said. “But there's a lot of insight I can give on how each of the riders could see the race unfolding and how it might play out from a pace and trip perspective. I can't promise you I'm going to be a good picker, but I can promise you there will be a lot of valuable insight.”

For those who would like to contribute a financial donation to the Louisiana chapter of New Vocations and support the Fair Grounds Day at the Races with Rosie Napravnik, visit https://horseadoption.com/donate and click the button with Rosie's picture on it in the top row, middle column.

“I'm really excited for the New Vocations Day,” Napravnik said. “I love coming back to the Fair Grounds and really enjoy being a part of the racing day. It's just so nice to have a day dedicated to letting people know where we are with the organization, our accomplishments of the past two years and the potential of what we can do in the future. I really look forward to sharing some of the unique success stories adopters have had with their horses. I think it's going to be super fun but also enlightening to everybody.”

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Doyle has had a busy 2020 racing season: she rode her first Royal Ascot winner and won her first Group 1 race with Glen Shiel in the British Champions Sprint at Ascot in October. Doyle also broke her own record for most winners in a calendar year by a female jockey, and became the first female jockey to win a race during Hong Kong's LONGINES International Jockeys' Championship earlier this month at Happy Valley.

The only racing figure to win the award was Sir Anthony McCoy in 2010, so GBR is urging racing fans to rally together for world-wide support of the female jockey's bid for history through the use of social media and the hashtag #VoteHollie.

GBR published a feature story about Doyle's meteoric rise through the racing industry, which can be viewed here, as well as the video shown below.

A public vote will be conducted during Sunday's live show, which begins at 8:00 p.m. local time (3:00 p.m. Eastern) on BBC1.

Read more at racingpost.com.

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Sent off at 23-1 odds, Grant Cox Revocable Trust's homebred Apollitical Gold broke sharply from post seven, took the lead early on and then held off Oklahoma Futurity winner Aint She Tempting by a head to win the richest running of the Golden State Million since 2012. With his hard-fought victory in the 440-yard race, Apollitical Gold gave Cox the richest win of his career as a racehorse owner, while also giving trainer Eddie Willis his richest victory ever at Los Alamitos Race Course. Piloting Apollitical Gold to victory was 25-year-old Justine Klaiber, who in the Golden State Million became the first female jockey to win a million-dollar race at Los Alamitos.

All in all, in covering the distance in a time of :19.650, Apollitical Gold's victory was the culmination of a plan drawn up by his connection well before his March 9 debut at Remington Park.

“Believe it or not, before he ever won a race, he had a schedule and this was on that schedule,” said Dr. Grant Cox, an obstetrics and gynecology specialist from Tulsa, Oklahoma. “(The win) was surreal because we own the mom and bred the mare. We watched him as a baby. My dad fed (him) every day. For this horse to win this race, it is unbelievable. I have to thank my mom and my dad and my wife for letting me spend money on horses when we probably didn't have it. I think (Los Alamitos Race Course owner) Ed Allred does a great job in trying to keep racing fair and I really respect that. I wanted to be here. It just worked out.”

It has been a well laid out plan so far, as Apollitical Gold also qualified to the Grade 1 All American Futurity at Ruidoso Downs, where he finished third to the outstanding filly Whistle Stop Cafe. For the Cox family, they surely could have never predicted that a mare purchased by Cox's father, Rex Cox, in the late 1970s would be a catalyst for so much success in racing more than 30 years later.

“My mom and dad have always had racing Quarter Horses,” Cox added. “They bought this horse's great grandmother in 1977 and most of our horses have come from that mare. Her name is Oh Mickey Go. Her last foal was a Strawfly Special baby (Oh Strawfly Go). We bred her to PYC Paint Your Wagon and we got this horse's mother (Src Gold). It's kind of beyond cool that this actually is happening. My brother (Dustin Cox) won the ($860,000) Remington Park Futurity with Im A Fancy PYC, but this is the first homebred from the great grandmother that we've had to do this well.”

While Grant Cox lives in Tulsa, Apollitical Gold was raised in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, about an hour northeast of Tulsa.

“That's where I grew up and that's where (Src Gold) is now,” the owner added. “He went off at 23-1 (in the Golden State Million). He ran third in the All American Futurity and he went off at 23-1. He did well. He is what I call a finisher, he always finishes well. When he broke well, I thought that we had a chance. He didn't have to come from behind. He doesn't like to be passed. Eddie has done a great job with this horse. He's been really patient with him.”

Willis has won over 1,500 Quarter Horse races and his horses have earned over $34 million. He's won the All American Derby, Texas Classic Derby and Ruidoso Derby just to mention a few, but Apollitical Gold's victory represents the second richest futurity win of his career, only behind Ragazzo's win in the 2009 Heritage Place Futurity. Willis was quick to pass the credit for Apollitical Gold's win to the other members of his team.

“(Apollitical Gold) has never not run a good race when we have run him,” he said. “I tried not to do too much with him before this race. I galloped him once and schooled him once. He has been very focused. My team that's here with the horses did it all. I just oversee things a little bit. When I stood my three horses in the final earlier this week, he stood the best out of all of them. Based on that I thought he had the edge among the three.”

And of course, Klaiber's win is a historical one, as it's the richest win by woman rider in Los Alamitos history.

“Justine had worked with this horse in the past,” Willis said. “That's why she had to come in to ride Apollitical Gold in the final. It's special to win this big of a race. That's why we are here for – to have moments like this. You have to be very lucky – everything needs to be right to win a race of this magnitude. It was right for us tonight. I had a good set of horses this year. That's the reason I came out to Los Alamitos. We'll be back three weeks from now for the trials to the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity (on November 22). I am really looking forward to that weekend.

“I've known the Cox family for a long time, but it wasn't until just a few years ago that I started training for them. Grant Cox bred and raised this horse. He brought him to my farm, and I kept him for two months. We worked with him and got him ready to race. I sent him back to Grant for a few months – kind of turned him out – before he came back for the start of his racing career.

“I'm not sending this one back to him again,” Willis said with a chuckle. “I'm keeping this one with me.”

For Klaiber, her win at Los Alamitos Race Course will be one to remember. The young pilot is having her best year yet, winning a career high 70 races and now going over $1 million in earnings.

“It's been amazing,” Klaiber said. “I'm grateful to have been able to ride all year long for Eddie Willis and be a part of the team. I couldn't be here without him and all my friends and family supporting me. This is great. I just hope it keeps building. It just seems like every year it gets better and better. I show up for work every day and be glad to do what I love and work hard. It's a lot of hard work. I don't think any of it was given. We've all have worked for it. I think I was second or third leading rider at Fair Meadows and now I'm at Will Rogers Downs. I think I've won 31 races there so far for the meet with a couple of weeks left.”

With Willis qualifying three horses to the Golden State Million Futurity, Klaiber was a perfect choice to ride Apollitical Gold after jockey Jimmy Dean Brooks, who rode Apollitical Gold in the trials, was set to ride HR Princess Jess in the final.

“I broke (Apollitical Gold) last winter,” Klaiber said. “I rode him at Remington. Eddie was at the trials in Oklahoma and asked me to come and ride him. Jimmy (Dean Brooks) stood him and Eddie said that he stood better than he ever stood. He definitely left on top. The horse felt great. He broke better than he has ever broken. He finished fantastic. I couldn't have asked him to run any better. He always runs like that – straight – he always has a good finish. He is phenomenal horse, and he gives you the best trip he can every time. I am happy.”

Klaiber has ridden two horses at Los Alamitos. In her first mount, she finished second in a stakes race on AQHA Bank of America Racing Challenge night. She made Los Alamitos history in her second mount.

Apollitical Gold earned $449,631 for the win to take his career earnings to $737,389. He's won three of seven starts, finishing in the money in everyone of his starts.

Levings Racing LLC and Dunn Ranch LLC's Aint She Tempting earned $181,994 for her runner-up effort. Ridden by Eduardo Nicasio for trainer John Cooper, the Tempting Dash filly won the Oklahoma Futurity and was second in the Grade 1 Heritage Place Futurity prior to arriving to Los Alamitos for the Golden State Million trials. A top three finisher in all six of her career starts, the McColee Land & Livestock LLC-bred Aint She Tempting raised her bankroll to $487,178.

Owned and trained by Jaime Gomez, J Best Boogie finished third under Jesus Rios Ayala. Bred by Rick Beck, the filly by Docs Best Card earned $128,466 in her stakes debut. Larry Rice's HR Princess Jess, fifth in the All American Futurity, earned $74,939 for her fourth place finish in this race. Jimmy Dean Brooks piloted the Willis-trainee. The top four finishers were followed by Counting The Ways, Apollitical Patty, Favorite Doc, Constituent, Famous Cartel Jess and Jessa Bit Of Candy.

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Having won ever-so comfortably in the opener, with Trueshan in the Long Distance Cup, Doyle looked to be oozing confidence as her British Champions Sprint mount Glen Shiel flew out of the stalls and they took up a prominent position in the center of the track.

As the field came to the two-furlong marker, Cieren Fallon Jnr's mount and July Cup winner Oxted began to press ahead, throwing down his challenge as favorite Dream Of Dreams began to fade. Then came the challenge of age-defying Brando, who has always saved his best for the biggest stage. However, trainer Archie Watson's superb sprinter was not for beating.

Glen Shiel battled ever so hard and showed a tremendous amount of grit to overcome his rivals and land a maiden Group 1 success for himself and Hollie Doyle. It's a race that will live long in the memory for racing fans all over the land.

A historic win for @HollieDoyle1 on Trueshan in the QIPCO British Champions Long Distance Cup!

More to come for her this afternoon? #ChampionsDay pic.twitter.com/nmI6PAsOwn

— Ascot Racecourse (@Ascot) October 17, 2020

What a ride! Hollie Doyle wins her first Group 1!

She's on fire as Glen Shiel holds on in the QIPCO British Champions Sprint! pic.twitter.com/zNYOAUHJwb

— Ascot Racecourse (@Ascot) October 17, 2020

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