KIERSTEN DUKE: Jamie Kah should be judged on her exploits on the track as a leading female jockey

Being a female in a male-dominated industry is tough.

Female participation in elite sports has grown tremendously in the last decade and nowhere is that more true than in racing.

Hearing the news that Rachel King will be making history when she becomes the first Aussie to ride at a Breeders Cup meeting gave me goosebumps.

Having any Aussie jockey fly the flag in the US will be outstanding, but for a female to achieve something so monumental in a male-dominated industry is incredibly special.

Pleasingly, horse racing is one of the only sports where men and women compete against each other.

But it’s only really in the last decade that female jockeys have been given a shot.

In January 2018 just over 11 per cent of jockey licences, including apprentices, were held by women in the UK.

And this was a marked improvement on 2015 when one in five trainers refused to put a female jockey on their horse.

During the same year, the worm turned Down Under.

Michelle Payne achieved the impossible by riding the $101 shot Prince Of Penzance to victory in the Melbourne Cup. She summed up her victory with the flawless comment, “Everyone who thinks women aren’t strong enough can get stuffed because we just beat the world”. Iconic.

Following Payne’s sensational victory, only one jockey has come close to replicating her performance. The poster girl of Australian racing, Jamie Kah.

Five years on from Payne’s history-making win, Kah teamed up with British raider Prince Of Arran to run third, just over half a length behind Melbourne Cup winner Twilight Payment.

The ride received a little backlash, with some questioning why Kah didn’t get clear air and get going sooner.

Now whether you agree or disagree with this is up to you, I don’t mind punters politely airing their queries, but what I simply cannot stand is dragging another human being down because you lost your $5 each way bet.

No one forced you to place that money mate, you know the risks, now grow up and take it on the chin, you absolute child.

But what I enjoy most about Kah isn’t necessarily her riding ability, it’s her resilience.

Every time someone criticised her performance she’d come out and steal the show by belting home a Group 1 winner.

In February 2021, Kah was ranked 41st in the world’s best jockey ratings and was the only female jockey in the top 100.

Months later she became just the third female jockey, behind Clare Lindop in 2008 and Linda Meech in 2013, to ride 1000 winners. By March 2023 Kah had ridden 1,191 winners including 9 Group 1 winners.

This Saturday she is riding Broadsiding in the Cox Plate.

It was during those years, the COVID lockdown years, that Kah has openly admitted she struggled the most. And quite frankly, with the way the media dragged her name through the mud following a house party scandal, I don’t blame her in the slightest.

Despite being one of five jockeys caught up in the scandal, it was Kah’s name that was constantly in the headlines. Was this because she was seen as the highest profile one there or was it simply because it was seen as more shocking that a star female jockey was involved compared to her male colleagues?

We regularly see professional male sportsmen up to no good so would the story have been lost amongst the other scandals in the sporting industry if it didn’t involve a high-profile female athlete?

Years later Kah is still copping the heat for a couple of mistakes she made.

I’m all for being held accountable for your actions, but then there is the lynch mob mentality that typically is used against female stars.

Who hasn’t made a mistake in their life and why are people so quick to judge when half their mates are out at the weekends doing the same thing Kah has been slammed for?

The double standards make my blood boil but not as much as old, boring, white men bringing up her past to try and make their current stories, or pieces of journalism (if you can call them that), more interesting.

Let it go. We’ve all moved on and quite frankly, the good Kah has done for the horse racing industry far outweighs any mistakes she’s ever made.

Bottom line, get off your high horse and leave her alone.