Iris Nielsen Ladies Invitation race now worth $50,000
The Ballina Jockey Club has increased the prizemoney for the annual Coolmore Iris Nielsen Ladies Invitation to $50,000 from $27,000, making this race one of the richest in the Northern Rivers.
The third running of the race will take place on January 24 next year, with one of the first lady riders to obtain a licence, Linda Jones, being a special guest.
The race is for invited lady riders only and jockeys are balloted their rides.
The jockey club is in the process of inviting riders and already Tracy O’Hara (NSW), Kristy Banks (Qld), Libby Hopwood (SA), Samantha Spratt (NZ) and Natasha Collett (NZ) have indicated they would like to take part.
The race was established as a celebration of the life of Iris Nielsen, who died in a race fall at Lismore in 1988. She was the first lady rider to die in a racing accident in Australia.
The event has now grown to be a celebration of all pioneering lady riders throughout Australia and New Zealand.
Jockey club CEO Sarah Wills said: “This race has fast developed into a celebration of female involvement in the racing industry which was resisted for so long.
“Last year’s lady riders were all enthusiastic about their experience at Ballina and I am sure most of the ladies will want to return for next year’s event.
“Lady riders, both past and present, are keen to assist in the further development of this exciting day.”
She also welcomed the continued sponsorship by Coolmore Stud.
“We are again very excited that Coolmore, a global thoroughbred operation, continues to support this race and the tribute to lady riders past and present,” she said.
The Coolmore Iris Nielsen day at Ballina also is support by the Ballina sub-section of the Australian Naval Association.
The development of the ladies invitation race was championed by vice-chairman of the Ballina Jockey Club, Stan Hayes.
“The directors of the club are right behind promotion of this race and intend to further develop it into a major feature race on the national racing calendar,” he said.
“With such a substantial amount of prizemoney, we are expecting a high standard of nominations not only for the feature race but also for the supporting races in what should be a very exciting day of racing.
“Last year the meeting proved so popular that the number of nominations resulted in 10 races on the day.”
The official story of lady riders in Australia is rich in history.
A tradition of amateur-only picnic races existed in Victoria from the 1850s.
However, ladies were excluded from full professional competition up until 1979.
The first ladies-only race was held in Brisbane in 1973.
It took a long campaign for women to get official licences to compete against male riders in open competition.
Pam O’Neill and Linda Jones were the first ladies to obtain licences and Linda became the first lady rider to win a race on a metropolitan track at Doomben, Brisbane, in 1979.
In the same year, Pam rode a treble on her first day’s performance at the Gold Coast Turf Club.
However, the unofficial history of lady riders is more colourful.
The first professional lady rider could have been Wilhemina Smith, aka Bill.
She rode pretending to be a man on Queensland country tracks in the 1940s and 1950s.
To keep riding, she lived a reclusive, single lifestyle.
