GUEST BLOG: DWAYNE SCHMIDT - ON THE RISING TIDE OF FEMALE RIDERS AND WHAT IT MEANS FOR THE FUTURE

By Dwayne Schmidt | Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Trainer and former jockey Dwayne Schmidt has two daughters plying their trade as jockeys. As such he is well placed to comment on the on the rising tide of female riders in the game and how he sees the future unfolding in that regard. He does so here as the very welcome latest Guest Blogger on HRO

I can fully understand where Michelle Payne was coming from in her post race comments after the Melbourne Cup about chauvinism in racing in what has been a male dominated sport for so many years.

Nobody will argue with that but, having said that, there has been a change in the guard, so to speak, in recent years and I believe that trend is set to continue.

As each generation gets bigger and bigger lots of men now are way too big to be jockeys and I would go so far as to say that the numbers in the jockey ranks are actually going to be female dominated in ten to fifteen years.

You only have to look at the apprentice intakes. Each year they show an increase in female participation percentage-wise.

There is no doubt that expansion of the number of female riders will continue into the future and that trend is going to make its mark in a big way in years to come with racing experiencing a complete turnaround from the male dominated norm that has existed for so long in the riding ranks.

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Some people still like to put forward the argument about the difference in strength between male and female riders. I’m not certain that there is that much between them now ... particularly with the whip rule changes.

I’m happy to put my two girls (Priscilla and Cassandra Schmidt) on my horses. In fact I’m happy to put most female rider’s on really, because I do think horses go kind for them and therefore there can be certain advantages to having a female rider on board.

It is not just about strength.

I’m pretty lucky in the sense that I’ve got two daughters who have completely different riding styles. The one is a more aggressive, up front and very vigorous rider ... that’s Priscilla, while Cassandra is a more relaxed, get back in the field type of rider who gets her horse to switch off and come home.

So, as far me as putting my girls on, I’m lucky because I’ve got options.

They swop and change between horses because they know they don’t suit every horse ... which again is the same with any jockey. Horses either run for certain jockeys or they don’t.

It is nothing today with being male or female.

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When Priscilla and Cassandra started out there were a couple of senior riders who tried to stand over them a little bit ... but they are pretty tough girls.

They can handle themselves.

I taught them to never take a backward step to anyone. I told them to not let anybody push them around and to always stand their ground ... whether they were in the jockey’s room, the steward’s room or on the track.

I told them not to allow themselves to be dominated, but I also told them that when business is finished to act like a lady.

I said you a lady first but, when you are in a race, be a demon.

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I actually didn’t encourage Priscilla and Cassandra to become jockeys in the early days.

Basically I didn’t want them to be jockeys. Priscilla already had an established career as a flight attendant. When she decided she wanted to be a jockey ... she was already eighteen.

She’d ridden show horses and pony club and jumpers and all that, but she really surprised me when she suddenly wanted to become a jockey.

She’d just come home from Adelaide, where she had been living and, said, ‘Dad I want to be a jockey’.

I thought, ‘Oh no!’ Then I said, ‘No you’re not’.

Then she said if I wasn’t going to take her on as an apprentice, she’d become apprenticed to somebody else.

I went on the back foot and I thought, well, if somebody is going to teach her it is going to be me. If it was going to happen I was going to do it. It had to be done the right way.

When that was settled I also said to her, ‘You should have told me three years ago. I could have made you a champion’.

So that’s how she got started.

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Cassandra was different.

She just naturally followed in her sister’s footsteps. Priscilla started to have a bit of success right off and Cassandra thought, I’ll give this a go.

All she ever wanted to be was a jockey. She said, I don’t care if I only get one ride a meeting. That’s all I want to do.

I did have serious reservations about Cassandra making it because of her height and weight but she’s done very well. She’s got four-and-a-half years out of it so far and is still going strong.

All I can say is I am very, very proud of both Priscilla and Cassandra and what they have achieved.

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It’s such a tough game out there as a jockey. You’ve got to get a break. You’ve got to take your opportunities as they come up. You’ve got to keep proving yourself over and over again.

And then there are the injuries.

Just as Michelle Payne has suffered and overcome serious in her career, so too have my girls had their fair share of setbacks.

Priscilla, for example, has had massive injuries. She has broken both legs, both ankles, a wrist, her arm, her ribs, a punctured lung, ligaments in her knee.

Cassandra hasn’t been too bad. She’s had a fractured back and a fractured foot ... when I say not too bad, I mean compared to her sister she is pretty light on.

As far as toughness goes that’s got to be an amazing feat in itself with Priscilla to keep getting up off the canvas and having a go. I wouldn’t ever begrudge her the day she comes to me and says I don’t want to ride anymore dad.

And I’ve asked her that and she’s said that, not unlike Michelle Payne’s attitude, she wants to go out on her terms.

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The point with being a jockey, male or female, young or old, is that you’ve got to earn your way up the ladder of success.

You’ve not only got to earn it but you have to earn it every week.

If you are not riding winners you are out of the spotlight and you lose ground.

Michelle Payne got to the very top of the tree by earning the right to be there. She will rightfully go down as a trail-blazer in her own right.

A lady winning the Melbourne Cup is an unbelievably feat and Payne’s win certainly struck a massive blow for the cause of female riders ... and all credit to her.

The reality though is that all of the female riders out there at the moment, from the bush to metro tracks, are paying their dues and playing their part in what is fast becoming the changing face of racing.

And rest assured, there’s more to come.

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