Woman to ride against men

Press, 1 November 1977, Page 16

Woman to ride against men

PA Auckland A 23-year-old Canadian jockey. Miss Joan Phipps, will become the first woman to ride competitively against men in New Zealand when she rides at Te Awamutu today. She is to ride the four-year-old mare, Daphalee, in the Te Himemoa Handicap and the four-year-old gelding Three Saints in the Lampada Handicap.

Speaking from Ngongo taha, near Rotorua, Miss Phipps said she might also ride other horses at the meeting. In July the New Zealand Racing Conference opened the way for women to be licensed as probationary riders in New Zealand, so local female jockeys could be seen on the tracks racing against men next year. As the holder of a licence overseas, Miss Phipps was able to get a licence to race in New Zealand.

The experience of competing with male riders is nothing new to Miss Phipps. She thought she had ridden about 1500 races against male jockeys, riding just under 400 winners. She worked her apprenticeship in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and has been riding competitively since the age of 17.

Miss Phipps has won several big stakes races in America and has won the Ladies International World Championship in the last two years. She also topped the recent Qantas International Series in Rotorua. The trainer of Three Saints is A. L. Jones, whose wife, Linda, was refused a licence which would have enabled her to ride against men.