The Queensland racing industry will again celebrate the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women over the next week with a range of activities to take place across the state in honour of International Women’s Day.
With IWD celebrated annually on March 8, Racing Queensland has programmed showcase meetings across each code to mark the occasion. They are:
- Greyhounds – Rockhampton Greyhound Racing Club;
- Harness – Redcliffe Harness Racing Club; and
- Thoroughbreds – Brisbane Racing Club (Doomben).
At each meeting, Queensland racing industry participants will be highly visible, with livery including specially commissioned handlers and strappers’ bibs, saddle cloths, harness colours, helmet covers and winners’ presentation rugs and trophies.
Racing Minister Grace Grace said she was proud to see the industry champion the outstanding contributions that women make to thoroughbred, harness and greyhound racing each year.
“Female participants continue to play a significant role across the industry in Queensland, and are changing the face of racing in the Sunshine State,” Minister Grace said.
“From barrier attendants to photo-finish operators, as well as a growing number of female presidents and chairs who volunteer their time far and wide across the state, it’s all for the love of the sport.
“By celebrating International Women’s Day, we are acknowledging the incredible contribution women make each and every day, and just as importantly, we provide a platform to help forge positive change for women.”
Female participation in the racing industry state-wide remains incredibly strong, with 284 women currently serving as presidents and/or committee members of Queensland’s 125 clubs.
In addition, Queensland Racing Integrity Commission data shows that more than 3,330 women are licensed participants across the three codes, encompassing jockeys, drivers, trainers, stablehands, trackwork riders and breeders.
Pleasingly, it’s the state’s apprentice jockey ranks that continue to be dominated by women – accounting for 42 of the 52 junior riders across the state.
Additionally, 294 out of 477 trackwork riders are women (61.6%), while 1,525 out of 2,893 (52.7%) thoroughbred stable hands are also female.
In the harness code, the annual Team Teal campaign – which is presently running until March 15 – continues to shine a light on our female reinswomen, with $200 donated to gynecological and ovarian cancer research every time a Queensland reinswoman drives a winner in the Sunshine State.
The campaign continues to enjoy success with more than $11,000 raised for far in 2023, on track to surpass the previous record of $15,200 set in 2021.
For the greyhounds, the state’s training ranks are strongly represented by premier trainers Jemma Daley, Jedda Cutlack and Selena Zammit, who all recently enjoyed feature race success on the same card as part of the Golden Greys Summer Carnival.
RQ Deputy Chair Sharon Dawson said the future was bright for women in the racing industry.
“Female participation in the industry continues to go from strength-to-strength, and it is vitally important that we continue to celebrate the contributions that our women make,” Ms Dawson said.
“This year’s IWD theme is #EmbraceEquity and we are proud that the racing industry is already a strong advocate for gender equality, with men and women competing against each other on a daily basis.
“There is no shortage of achievements of excellence from our female participants, and I am confident there will be many more headlining success to come as the number of women involved in racing continues to increase.”