The top female horse racing jockeys in the UK and Ireland

Over the past few years, female jockeys have been taking the racing world by storm, and their presence is slowly increasing on the big stage. Horse racing is in the minority in the sense that women and men compete on equal terms, resulting in some fantastic female talents rivalling the greatest male jockeys.  

With plenty more women aspiring to become jockeys at the top-level, let’s take a look at three of the leading female jockeys at the moment in both Flat and National Hunt racing across the UK and Ireland who are inspiring the next generation.  

Hollie Doyle 

Hollie Doyle has performed yet again this season, cementing herself among the great flat jockeys of her generation. She has racked up a tally of 117 wins in 792 rides in the 2023 flat racing season, which is strike rate of 15%, immensely impressive given the number of rides. 

Hollie found success yet again on a John and Thady Gosden favourite, Nashwa, at Newmarket in July for the Tattersalls Falmouth Stakes. Hollie and Nashwa have a long-standing partnership, debuting with one another in Newmarket back in October of 2021, winning five times together since then. Arguably Doyle’s biggest triumph of the season was the King Stand Stakes on the opening day of Royal Ascot, steering Bradsell to victory at 14/1, beating favourite Highfield Princess by a length, securing £355,855.25 for finishing on top of the podium.  Most recently, Doyle won the Qatar Prix du Cadran at Longchamp across the channel in France. Doyle was in charge of 9/10F Trueshan, trained by Alan King, romping home to victory to secure the best part of £150,000 prize money. 

Hollie Doyle continues to inspire the next generation of female jockeys, planting herself firmly in the history books in Flat Racing and is always one to watch on race-day! 

Saffie Osbourne 

Saffie Osbourne, daughter of Lambourn-based flat trainer Jamie Osbourne, has burst onto the scene as an emerging talent at the age of 21, giving the male jockeys a serious run for their money in the flat racing scene. 

Despite tearing ligaments in her knee which has prematurely put an end to her season, she has had some major successes in 2023, winning 70 races in just 585 rides. To have a 12% win-rate at such a young age displays her potential and her long-lasting future within the sport and she has shown she deserves to be at the top-level, flying the flag for female jockeys.  

Osbourne’s biggest win this season was atop the beast that is Metier, a key member of the Harry Fry yard, back in May at Chester for the Chester Cup. Saffie, who looked out of it completely three furlongs out, managed to kick on and make up six places to win the race by a head, an outstanding ride. Saffie also had success with Dark Trooper, an Ed Walker horse, winning twice at Ascot in the Cup Sprint in August and then the Fever-Tree Handicap in September. Ed Walker has a history of backing Saffie Osbourne to perform as she did on Random Harvest, whom she won on at the Longine Valient Stakes at Ascot in July.  

Saffie is an extremely exciting prospect in the racing world looking ahead to the next decade, and I’m sure we will be seeing a lot more of her in the winners’ enclosure at the big fixtures in the near future.  

Rachel Blackmore 

It’d be impossible writing about leading female jockeys and not to mention the Irish National Hunt powerhouse that is Rachael Blackmore. Rachael has been a familiar face since turning professional in March 2015, after a successful start in point-to-point as an amateur. She was named the Irish Times’ Ireland Sportswoman of the Year 2021, further to that, she then was crowned BBC Sports Personality World Sport Star of the Year in December the same year. 

Rachael Blackmore is synonymous with Henry De Bromhead’s machine that is Honeysuckle, who together, have won 17 of 19 runs including prestigious races such as the Irish Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown three-times, The Mares Novice Hurdle Championship Final at Fairyhouse back in 2019 and two-time winners of the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham.  

Recent successful Henry De Bromhead pairings have included Lucky Zebo who has triumphed three times this season, the most recent of which was at Gowran Park for the Gowran Park Handicap Hurdle. The Short Go has two wins from three this season under Blackmore’s guidance, with the main victory coming in September at Clonmel in the Captain Christy Rated Novice Chase. Blackmore is also known for her appearances on Minella Indo, with a multitude of wins under her belt riding De Bromhead’s superstar horse. Her first win on Minella Indo came in the Grade 1 Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle back in 2019 at Cheltenham, where the horse was priced 50/1 and won by two lengths.  

The future is looking bright as the sport looks to even the scales and promote more female-jockeys, as they continue to make a name for themselves and inspire future generations. Women continue to influence the sport – both in the saddle and out – and we can expect to see a lot more names climb through the ranks in the years to come.