Hayley

Whatever about the relative professional competence of Hayley and Emma Ramsden they are not without charm. What am I missing about Jamie Spencer? I find him a very bland and unattractive personality. What does he have going for him? Where do I get some of it?
 
I've never been a fan of Turner. I agree that Dream Ahead dug her out of a deep hole that day.

We really shouldn't be discussing her looks in any event but I have to say I thought her personality helped brighten an otherwise dull ML the other day.
 
I think she was very competent and the injuries really knocked her confidence and as a result she lost rides and had a terrible 2014. She has been riding much more like her old self this year .

Nothing wrong with her ride on Dream Ahead in my opinion and Margot Did in the Nunthorpe was a jolly good ride .
 
Comes across as a very likeable person but average jockey IMO, taking gender out of the equation and using her as a flag bearer to show that women can compete against men is/was a mistake insomuch that aside from a G1 one she was unlikely to be he hitting any headlines (injuries aside) and never going to be challenging for champion jockey etc.

If the media accepts that there are average sportspeople in every sport - both men and women - and stop beating on about the fact that the women don't get the opportunities then eventually the prejudice may subside completely. Keep on about it and it won't, plus there are a bunch of lads who've retired for the very same reason yet get barely a fraction of the attention - how many of them are likely to be on the ML or ATR any time soon?

I wish her all the best in her new career regardless.
 
While I agree up to a point, wilson, I think there's a way to go before there's anything like parity. Traditionally male-dominated arenas need the female flagbearers to be featured and highlighted, to encourage the next wave of women to come along and build on their success. There is a saying: "you can't be what you can't see". There is very little reason why female jockeys can't succeed, after all, so it's not just tokenism; the physical differences don't hold back female three-day eventers, for example, who have to wrestle a galloping horse round a cross-country course on average 3-4 miles long with 24-36 jumps involved and compete on exactly the same terms as male riders.

I hope, and think we will get there one day. Look at training - I remember the media brouhaha when Jenny Pitman won the Grand National with Corbiere. Now if a female trainer sends a horse out to win a big race, especially in NH, her gender is far less likely to be the focus of the media reports because it's much more commonplace.

I wish Hayley well in whatever she chooses to pursue in the future.
 
Last edited:
I would tend to agree in most other sports Cruella but racing is an insular sport that doesn't tend to attract an outside audience - I was astounded at the number of people who I spoke to yesterday that had never heard of Pat Eddery.

As a result, young females who dream of growing up to become a jockey are normally from a society that will be fully aware of the exploits of jockies like Hayley without the extra "female jockey Hayley Turner..." media attention whenever she makes headlines. Hayley herself is no exception.

Of course if racing ever does succesfully and continously breach it's boundaries then only through transparency of their success might that girl from the council estate be made aware.
 
Am I alone is seeing an irony that the one thing that is supposed to have held her back as a jockey is probably responsible for her being fast tracked into a quite lucrative media career?
 
Warbler said:
Am I alone is seeing an irony that the one thing that is supposed to have held her back as a jockey is probably responsible for her being fast tracked into a quite lucrative media career?
Click to expand...

No and that is exactly my point.

Women want to be treated equally in sport (and rightly so) but how does it help when an average jockey, albeit arguably the best female one retires and gets the additional attention that wouldn't surround a similarly adept male counterpart ?
 
now is where the looks come in Wilson...thats why she will have a media job..its shallow..but we live in a shallow society obsessed with fame.

i don't really care what job she gets..good luck to her..she was a tough lass..can't see a reason to begrudge anything tbh..get what you can whilst its on offer..would anyone here in her position be turning this work down?..i doubt it.

I'd never get it offered as i'm an ugly b*stard...tough titty on me
 
Last edited:
wilsonl said:
I would tend to agree in most other sports Cruella but racing is an insular sport that doesn't tend to attract an outside audience - I was astounded at the number of people who I spoke to yesterday that had never heard of Pat Eddery.

As a result, young females who dream of growing up to become a jockey are normally from a society that will be fully aware of the exploits of jockies like Hayley without the extra "female jockey Hayley Turner..." media attention whenever she makes headlines. Hayley herself is no exception.
Click to expand...

Agree entirely with Cruella here.

The reality of the situation is that people in any walk of life you care to name where there is discrimination of any sort, will take heart from that discrimination being seen to be beaten down - in this instance, a young female who 20 years ago may only have dreamed of being a jockey and been ready to settle for a life as a stable lass/veterinary assistant instead, at a time when there were one or two female jockeys, may have watched Alex Greaves winning the Nunthorpe, and believed in better.

Is it any coincidence that 20 years later there is a much longer list of female jockeys and if the coverage and encouragement continues then that can only grow. If it is allowed to be ignored and hidden away by the insularity of racing, then there is little hope for any of us.
 
wilsonl said:
Talk about a female jockey !. What a superb ride from Nina on Josie's Orders.
Click to expand...

Fantastic.....how the hell did she win that?
Nearly fell off, horse collapses in front of her at critical part of the race.
What a ride
 
Back
Top