Eva Ring

Eva Ring (1911–1989) was among the first female jockeys to ride and train winning race horses in Canada in the 1930s–1940s.

It was a time in North American history when women were not permitted to obtain a jockey license or ride in flat races alongside their male counterparts, but Ring was a trailblazer and managed to overcome many of the obstacles of her time.

Discrimination was not a situation unique to North America; rather, it was a global issue in the male dominated sport of Thoroughbred racing, the "Sport of Kings".

To be able to ride, some women would show-up at the racetrack disguised as a male jockey.

Ring's early photographs serve as a testament to her disguise.

Ring competed as a female jockey at venues where a jockey license was not required, such as bush track races, county fairs, and local recreational parks and exhibition centers where female jockeys were the exhibit.

Some of those venues sported a grandstand and the semblance of a race oval but without a starting gate, such as the South Side Athletic Park in Edmonton.

Ring was considered "well-known to horse and racing fans", and because of her outstanding riding abilities, was covered as a favorite in the Sports section of regional newspapers, such as the Edmonton Journal.

From 1937—1941, Canada was struggling through The Great Depression and the start of World War II, but it did not stop people from attending horse races.

It was inexpensive entertainment if one could resist trips to the betting window and simply watch the races.

For religious reasons, there were no races held on Sunday.

In the U.S., state governments saw horse racing as a potential "honey pot" to replenish their shrinking coffers.

They increased taxes on racing revenues in exchange for legalized betting, which in turn, enticed business investors and increased the number of race tracks by 70%.

Female jockeys did not benefit from that growth because, at the time, they were barred from obtaining a jockey license and competing in the same high stakes races as their male counterparts.

In 1939, Anna Lee Aldred at age 18 was reluctantly granted a jockey's license to race at Agua Caliente Racetrack in Tijuana, Mexico, making her the first licensed female jockey to compete despite the failed attempts by racetrack officials to find a rule to prevent it.

Aldred was given a small wooden badge that represented a jockey's license.

Sometime around mid to late 1940s, Ring retired as a jockey and focused her attention on training racehorses.

She was a licensed trainer, and one of few female racehorse trainers on the Western Circuit in Canada.

She attracted the attention of racehorse enthusiast, Bill Little, a hotel owner in Rosetown, Saskatchewan.

He was an up and coming breeder of Thoroughbred racehorses, and owned a large breeding operation known as Swift Water Stud.

Little hired Ring as his trainer sometime around 1946, and considered her and his stable manager, Fred Jones, to be "a winning combination".

Ring was not only training his horses to run, Little said "she breaks them and gallops them" and "does about everything but ride in the races."

Whenever Ring arrived at a race with Pussy Boots and Liberty Boy in Little's string of racehorses, it attracted media attention.

That didn't change until 1968.

Because of her gender, Ring, like other female trailblazers of the time, was limited to races held at bush tracks, in local parks, and at county fairs rather than being allowed to jockey at the more prestigious races that offered large purses, such as the major stakes races at Woodbine Racetrack, Santa Anita Park, Pimlico Race Course and Churchill Downs, to name a few.

Women were allowed to ride in feature races for women only such as the Powder Puff Derby held at the historic Chinook Park racetrack in Calgary.

They were also allowed to train racehorses, but they typically had to obtain their trainer's license using the name of a male friend.

Discrimination against female jockeys was not unique to Canada; rather, it has been a global issue for centuries.

In 1968, Kathy Kusner became the first female jockey in the U.S. to be granted a standard flat track jockey’s license from a major racing jurisdiction, but only after she filed a lawsuit against the Maryland Racing Commission that resulted in a year-long legal battle.

In September 1968, Circuit Judge Ernest A. Loveless overturned the commission's denial.

"“The commission could never push aside the fact that she was a female entering into the jockey profession,” Loveless said. “The evidence before the commission and the acts of the commissioners themselves show that the petitioner has been substantially prejudiced.” ~ Judge Lovelace"

On March 1, 1969 Tuesdee Testa, Santa Anita's first female jockey, won her second career mount.

On that same day at Florida Downs, Diane Crump achieved her first race win.

Crump was the first female in the U.S. to compete as a professional jockey in a pari-mutuel race, "despite boycotts, hecklers and a dubious society".

She was also the first female jockey to ride in the Kentucky Derby.

In Britain, Jockey Club rules banned women from riding in races until 1972, at which time a series of flat races had been approved for female jockeys but were restricted to female riders only.

The Sex Discrimination Act 1975 in Britain afforded Alex Greaves the opportunity to become the first female jockey to ride in the prestigious 1996 Epsom Derby (at 500-1 odds), but it came decades after the act was passed.

Francine Villeneuve acquired her jockey's license in 1987, and became the first female to ride and place in the Queen's Plate, Canada's oldest and most prestigious race.

Chantal Sutherland raced in the US and Canada but it wasn't until the year 2000 that she began her career as a licensed jockey.

She was another trail blazer who loved the sport, and helped pave the way for other women to become licensed jockeys.