Josephine Gordon (born 16 May 1993) is a British

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used ...

who competes in

Flat racing Horse racing is an equestrianism, equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all spor ...

. In 2016 Gordon won the

British flat racing Champion Apprentice The flat racing Champion Jockey and Champion Apprentice titles are awarded annually to the jockey(s) and apprentice(s) respectively that have ridden the most winners (both turf and all-weather) in Great Britain during a set period or championship ...

title, becoming only the third female jockey to win that title after

Hayley Turner Hayley Turner (born 3 January 1983) is a retired England, English jockey who competed in flat racing. Originally from Nottingham, she was based in Newmarket, Suffolk, Newmarket for much of her career. In 2008 Turner became the first woman to ...

and Amy Ryan. Gordon began her association with horses at her mother's

livery stable A livery yard, livery stable or boarding stable, is a stable where horse owners pay a weekly or monthly fee to keep their horses. A livery or boarding yard is not usually a riding school and the horses are not normally for hire (unless on wor ...

but her early jockey career saw a period of 18 months between her first and second winners. She worked with retired jockey John Reid as a coach and became apprentice jockey at the stable of trainer Stan Moore. Her second winner came in June 2015 and she progressed to ride more than 70 winners in 2016, including 50 in the apprentice championship. She has also ridden for major trainers Sir Michael Stoute and Hugo Palmer. Shortly after clinching her title she was given a first ride by the

Godolphin Racing Godolphin (Arabic: جودولفين) is the Maktoum family's private Thoroughbred horseracing stable and was named in honour of the Godolphin Arabian, who came from the desert to become one of the three founding stallions of the modern Thor ...

organisation. In December 2016 Gordon was honoured twice at the annual

Lester Award A Lester Award is one of a range of awards given to jockeys at an annual ceremony in Great Britain. The awards are named in honour of Lester Piggott, an eleven-time British flat racing Champion Jockey who won thirty British Classic Races from 1954 ...

s, receiving the awards for Apprentice of the Year and Lady Jockey of the Year. In 2017, she won her first big handicap race, the Victoria Cup at

Ascot Ascot, Ascott or Askot may refer to: Places Australia * Ascot, Queensland, suburb of Brisbane * Ascot, Queensland (Toowoomba Region), a locality * Ascot Park, South Australia, suburb of Adelaide * Ascot (Ballarat), town near Ballarat in Victoria ...

for William Haggas. Gordon rode her first

group race Group races, also known as Pattern races, or Graded races in some jurisdictions, are the highest level of races in Thoroughbred horse racing. They include most of the world's iconic races, such as the Derby, Irish Derby and Prix de l'Arc de Triomp ...

winner when Koropick won the

Chipchase Stakes The Chipchase Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Newcastle over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres), and it is scheduled to tak ...

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

in July 2017. She followed it up with a second Group 3 win for Hugo Palmer in the

Princess Royal Stakes The Princess Royal Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Great Britain open to fillies and mares aged three years or older. It is run over a distance of 1 mile and 4 furlongs (2,414 metres) on the Rowl ...

on Apphia on 29 September. She beat her 2016 total of winners and finished 24th in the jockeys' championship. In November she rode her 100th winner of the year, becoming the second female jockey to reach this milestone after Hayley Turner in 2008. In February, 2019 Gordon decided to go freelance.

References

Living people British jockeys British female jockeys 1993 births Lester Award winners British Champion apprentice jockeys {{UK-horseracing-bio-stub