Needed: More women in racing

HORSERACING needs women! And they need them as soon as possible if not in numbers then certainly in quality.

It is as clear as the lack of contact lenses of the stewards on a race-day that without the advent of more women in racing, there will be no progress in the crowds on a regular Saturday. The Arima Race Club in conjunction with the Trinidad and Tobago Racing Authority need to sort out this dilemma. At the moment, there are too few women in the sport and this does not lend itself to encouraging the fairer sex to our beautiful Santa Rosa Park Facility at Arima.. There are not enough women who own horses, with only Wilma Primus clearly dominating that category. In the past, we had women trainers and even female jockeys, but this is no more and we should seek to give special incentives to ensure women in the sport. If we can do this, as in the United States and England it will add a touch to the racing and encourage more women to attend racing to see their sex win out over the men. Also the more women who attend racing, then generally the more children will be at the track also, as most of the time, the men leave their family at home. Having days like — Free Entry for women — is a good idea, but we must seek to work on means of attracting women into the sport in a more tangible way, and if we can do this then everyone will be happy.

In the world, women use racing as a means of sporting the latest fashion and if you examine any race day abroad, there are women attending wearing their best clothes. We need to give these incentives. Maybe as a means of getting either women in training or becoming a jockey, we need to ask those in the past who performed this role, such as June Slinger, to give talks and hold meetings over a period of time at Santa Rosa Park. In terms of jockeys, we need to be more flexible in our approach to having women undergo the training required to be jockeys. Far too often we have heard that the tutors are too demanding and overbearing on the women, therefore discouraging them. We also need women to be more involved in the Betting Levy Board and also the Trinidad and Tobago Racing Authority. Both of these bodies operate too much like an old boys’ club, and look after only their own. If one did not know better, you could believe that the men in racing are afraid, just like the Queen’s Park Cricket Club, of having their wives and girlfriends attending the track to witness what they are up too.

Horseracing is for everyone and the only way to increase the attendances is to have more women at the track. Maybe some novelty events that appeal to women could be targeted; maybe we could have some competition and name ten races after ten of the foremost women that have contributed to our society. There are a lot of top female executives in Trinidad and Tobago, and we must seek them out, allow them to attend and experience the excitement of one of the greatest sports ever. If we can encourage them to attend racing, then the excitement of betting and the thrill of winning will certainly stoke their flames. Trinidad and Tobago have a lot of talented women who can contribute if given the opportunity. Who knows in the future maybe with a woman’s touch, some of the colours now adorning Santa Rosa Park can be modified. Also I know that I speak for the more open-minded younger generation of men who attend racing, who prefer to see a few beautiful women around our racing rather than the empty shade of an abundance of only men.

It is interesting to note that most of the women in racing are currently tellers and it is wrong for this sort of stereotyping hiring to be encouraged, because women very often in the work place are generally more dedicated and disciplined than their male counterparts. So now is the time to bring on the women, into the sport. But the question might be asked: Are there women brave enough to step forward and accept the challenge? Because a lot of the women who may be so qualified, are not willing to place themselves under this pressure. There is now a television programme on horseracing with women involved, which must be commended and applauded, because it is a great change and while there are obvious areas that need improvement, such as the predictable and tame timeline and the almost-slow and deliberate speech of her companions, it is a start. We need more, much more, women who can talk horseracing and make for interesting listening. Just look at some of  the major networks in the world. For the best in website management and change management go to cornelis-asociates.com