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GIRL POWER. IT EXISTS. BUT WHAT IS IT?
February 22, 2021 12:50 pm
By Matt Stewart, Racing Editor
It’s intangible, indefinable and impossible to grasp historically, given girls had barely been given a look-in for centuries.
But is it possible that female jockeys possess an X factor that gives them an edge over the boys?
Has modern racing evolved in a way that allows this X factor to become an advantage?
For instance, a female jockey wouldn’t have the strength to throw the kitchen sink at a horse but no-one does that anymore anyway, and did it really help when Hall and Dittman were cutting them in half to make them try harder, run faster?
Carl Di Iorio
Jockey(s) to watch: Laura Lafferty is yet to ride a city winner but that should change quickly in 2021. The vast majority of her winners, as is the case with most apprentices early in their career, settled top three, but she s won races during December with some intelligent off-pace rides, displaying greater timing and composure. I predict that Damien Oliver will win this season s Melbourne Jockeys Premiership. He s ridden almost enough seconds to complete a minute already this season although his choice of rides will be slightly impacted by the minimum weight in the metropolitan area returning to 54kg.