ENGLISH TEXTS had something . Then he ran at Lyon with some good horses and he left them for dead as soon as I asked him . That ’ s when we realised he was exceptional . But he really prefers soft ground . He has always been beaten on firmer going . With his big action and his head carriage , he doesn ’ t really use his back . With him , I know what to expect from the canter . As I know him well , I know if he ’ s in his element or not .“ Irésine will be back with us again this year , 2025 , and his rider hopes to make headlines with him once more . For the rest , she will have to continue to travel all over the country with her pilgrim ’ s staff , to stay at the top : “ It ’ s never easy and I had to fight until the end of 2024 ,“ recalls Marie , who finished 2 lengths ahead of her closest rival , Maryline Eon , 12 th in the overall standings . “ There are more and more talented girls , and you need a regular supply of rides and winners to be competitive . That corresponds to about a thousand rides , no matter what , and requires impeccable physical condition . And a bit of luck , of course .“ Jules Susini , Marie ’ s agent , has been in the business since 2009 and has been working with the leading female jockey since 2019 . According to him , the perception of female riders by horsemen has improved significantly over the past fifteen years : “ It has become extremely rare for someone to tell me that a horse is not suited to women ,“ he explains . “ Jockeys like Marie , who show every day that they can compete with a man in a finish , have done a lot to improve the situation . They also often have the advantage of being able to ride at light weights , which is becoming increasingly difficult for many male riders . Overall , I would say that we are moving in the right direction . Psychological barriers have been broken down . Marie ’ s big wins have also counted for a lot , but I find that in racing , states of grace don ’ t last long . The day after big successes , anything is possible , but you quickly fall back into the usual trend . Female jockeys have to prove themselves more to achieve top-level jockey status , whereas , honestly , riders capable of riding 600 to 1,000 races a season are all at the same level .“ Let ’ s not beat ourselves up about it , though : in many other competitive sectors , women have to do more than men to achieve the same status .
“ JOCKEYS LIKE MARIE , WHO SHOW EVERY DAY THAT THEY CAN FIGHT WITH A MAN IN A STRAIGHT LINE , HAVE DONE A LOT TO IMPROVE THE SITUATION .”
Jules Susini , Marie Vélon ’ s agent
PAGE 28 Marie and Irésine during their victorious return from the Prix Ganay ( Gr . 1 ) 2023 .. © APRH
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WOMEN IN THE FIELD : WEIGHT ALLOWANCE KIND OF WORKS
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From 2017 onwards , under the aegis of France Galop supremo Édouard de Rothschild , who made it a priority , female jockeys benefited from a systematic weight allowance of 2kg , reduced to 1.5kg the following year . Some minor adjustments followed to cap the differential for apprentices , but overall , the principle has not changed much , with Pattern races and most handicaps excluded from the races where the allowance rule is applied . These are Group and Listed races ( all breeds ), Class 1 conditions races , Class 2 conditions races for 2-year-olds and 3-year-olds , other races with prize money equal to or greater than € 31,000 , and feature races . Reading the statistics published in the invaluable Baromètre du Galop , now available on the France Galop website ( link to the section dedicated to jockeys ’ activity : https :// www . france-galop . com / fr / tableau / jockeys ), allows us to consider the impact of these measures on the activity of female jockeys in France on the flat . If we consider all “ professional “ licences , i . e . excluding amateur licences , we note that from 2014 to 2023 , we have gone from 30 % to 36 % of women in the overall riders population . However , the total workforce has fallen by 29 %, and more particularly by 36 % among men . If we stick to the sole perimeter of professional riders , we note that the number of women enjoying this status has increased from 35 to 46 (+ 31 %) in ten years , representing 12 % to 22 % of this population , while men ’ s bracket has lost 39 %. In short , female jockeys are partly making up for a decline in the number of professional jockeys in France . However , they have less access to this status than men . Indeed , if in 2023 still , one male jockey in 1.7 was professional , only one woman in 3.3 had taken the plunge . This statistic was still one in five in 2014 and 2017 . So there is progress . To put it simply , 20 % of active female jockeys were professional in 2017 ,
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