WOMEN RIDERS

Evening Post, Volume CCXV, Issue 13, 17 January 1938, Page 14

WOMEN RIDERS

MUST NOT RACE

The well-known Sydney horsewoman, Miss Vera Macmillan, who was refused permission to ride in the Corinthian Cup at Rosehill under the rules of racing, has been riding horses since her childhood days on a farm in the North Island of New Zealand. When she went to live in Sydney some years ago, she rode racehorses at the early morning .training operations. She had a job in the city, but that did not prevent her from hurrying to a racing track in the dawn light to further her experience. Miss Macmillan considers that a steeplechase should be held for women at the time of the Royal Show. Competent riders from all over Australia are in 'Sydney at that time, and she believes that a worthwhile race could be staged. "A race for women riders would be immensely popular," she said. "People who now never attend a racecourse would come to see the manner in which the women acquitted themselves. I know that the women'would all perform splendidly. It is a wellknown fact that women make better riders than men. They have lighter hands, and the horses seem to respond to them in a more spontaneous fashion. I very much doubt whether the rule which states that 'No female shall be licensed as a jockey or permitted to ride as an amateur or owner' will ever be rescinded."