Why are there so few female jockeys?

In this week’s ‘The Turf’ column, Robin Oakley bemoans the lack of female jockeys in horse racing. This, he claims, is a result of the sport’s lack of opportunities for women:

‘I have banged on for years about the lack of opportunities for women jockeys in Britain. Some horses go even better for a girl and the good women jockeys like Hayley [Turner] … are as good as the boys. The problem is that few get the chance to become that good because they are denied enough rides by owners and trainers. You have to go 67 places down the championship list to find Hayley as the leading woman rider. The crowds and the punters are happy with women jockeys — look at the numbers who turn up to Carlisle for their annual women-riders-only meeting — but the only girls who get a fair crack of the whip, so to speak, are those who have a trainer for a father, such as Amy Ryan, the champion apprentice of 2012.’