Unlike almost all other professional sports, in horse racing male and female jockeys and horses compete side by side. This makes the sport uniquely interesting, but also makes it very hard for females to compete on a level playing field.

If you are into horse race betting you will know that some of the best horses and jockeys currently competing are actually female. Women jockeys and fillies or mares such as Chantal Sutherland and Dawn Run were nightmare to compete against and always came with the shortest odds possible.

In fact, even these days if you want to bet on horse races, some of the best picks you can choose are fillies ridden by female jockeys. If you know your horse racing ins and outs and know the top female jockeys and fillies or mares out there, you can click here to win some money by backing a female favourite or two.

Male Horses Get a Head Start
However, it goes without saying that, as in any other sport, women and female horses are always facing an uphill struggle when competing against men and stallions, geldings, and colts.
In fact, recent numbers show that in British flat racing 63% of the horses are either stallions, geldings or colts, while only 37% are mares or fillies. These numbers are clearly indicating that there isn't a level playing field for both sexes.

This is best illustrated if you look at the number of winners in British flat racing. There are 67% of male winners while there are only 33% female ones. You cannot expect different numbers when the girls have a starting disadvantage that tilts the table against them. For every two male horses there is approximately one female horse competing and that's why it is no surprise that for every two male winners there is only one female horse which wins a race.

Female Jockeys Have to Go All Out
It is a similar story with female jockeys. Women in horse racing are considered as equal to their male counterparts. This means that there are no worries that men are dominating the sport or trying to marginalize women.

However, one thing that man have got going for them and women don't is the fact that men are more eager risk takers than women. This has been in the nature of man since the earliest days of humanity and has stayed with them up until now.

Male jockeys are more willing than female jockeys to go head first in a risky situation which might mean that they get seriously hurt. This evolutionary development has helped men in making the most out of situations, such as hunting, in which risk taking could mean providing the supper and getting away alive to tell the story. In horse racing this means winning the race.

Female jockeys are understandably slightly more cautious than their male counterparts. In fact, horse racing history has shown that the number of incidents in which women have been involved is much lower than that of male jockeys.