Trailblazing female jockey Eva Draper inducted into Hall of Fame

By Andrew Smith

When it comes to the conversation around female pioneers of racing in Queensland, the name Eva Draper is not one that is usually mentioned.

Pam O’Neill is widely recognised and celebrated for her trailblazing tale of being Australia’s first registered female jockey, having been granted a licence to ride on the Gold Coast in 1979.

But decades before that, it was Eva Draper who was paving the way for women to compete in the saddle – as Queensland’s first female hoop.

The former horsewoman was recently inducted into the Queensland Racing Hall of Fame.

Draper’s granddaughters Sue, Diane, Michelle and Anita, along with great-nephew Peter Draper, were on hand to accept the honour at the 2024 TAB Queensland Thoroughbred Awards.

The story of how Draper ended up riding in a race on Boxing Day, 1915 is undoubtedly one for the history books.

Sue detailed how the Woodford-born Eva was already an accomplished horsewoman by her teenage years.

“Her mother Ena was a horse rider, and her father William was a horse trainer,” Sue said.

“Apparently Eva was riding horses before she could walk and she was doing trackwork for horses by the age of eight.”

Respected former racing journalist Bart Sinclair, himself a Queensland Racing Hall of Fame member, also testified to the prowess of the young Eva.

“This was a girl well before her time…she was a really accomplished horsewoman, and a star of the show ring, equestrian and showjumping, and her national record was recognised second to none,” Sinclair said.

“She was said to be as good as any male riding trackwork - small in stature, but she had terrific hands and she could ride really heavy, headstrong horses.

“She could handle them perfectly and she was just an outstanding lady around the horse.”

It was December 26, 1915 when the-then 17-year-old came to be riding Mown Hay in a race in Bundaberg.

Eva’s brother Gordon had fallen ill and was unable to race, and a replacement jockey could not be found.

So trainer William Draper approached the Chief Steward requesting permission for his daughter, who often rode Mown Hay at the stables and in trackwork, to compete in the race.

Queensland racing history was then made in the ‘Rum City’, with Eva piloting Mown Hay to victory in one of the two races he competed in that day.

“Eva won that race as an unregistered jockey, in a registered race, when she was only 17,” Sue said.

“They didn’t expect her to win and rumour has it that there was a lot of uproar after the win.

“The bookies didn’t like it, the other trainers didn’t like it, and they tried to have her disqualified because she wasn’t a registered jockey.

“But they said no - they had special permission, so they allowed it go through.”

Despite the triumph, Eva battled to cut through in the male-dominated riding ranks following that day.

The family believes the controversy over allowing a female to ride in the race in Bundaberg hindered any hopes of a career in the saddle.

“She was an unregistered jockey so she ran in amateur races but that was the only registered race she got to run in,” Sue said.

“She did try to get registered after that but for some reason, we don’t know why, but they refused her registration, maybe because of the uproar from her winning.

“A lot of the news articles said she would have to go on thinking that she should have been born a male rather than a female, but maybe she was just born in the wrong era.”

Eva later married Brisbane trainer Barney King, riding trackwork for the stable and racing at Kedron, Strathpine, and Coorparoo.

In 1925, Eva rode as an amateur at Springsure, south of Emerald - achieving three wins, three seconds, and two thirds in four days of racing.

Following the closure of unregistered racing, King became a licensed trainer with the Queensland Turf Club.

Although Eva couldn't be licensed, she assisted as the King stable won major races, including the 1934 and 1935 Stradbroke Handicaps with Petrol Lager, and several other notable races with Brown Force.

Sadly, she died in 1952.

It was not until O’Neill came on to the scene as the nation’s first registered female jockey in the 1970’s that the name Eva Draper would be brought up again in racing circles.

Her son Ron (Sue’s father) was determined to fight for recognition of his mother’s achievement at Bundaberg over 60 years earlier.

“Every time there was an article in the newspaper about the first female jockey in Queensland, Dad got on and wrote to them - all his life he had been championing her to be recognised by the horse racing industry,” Sue said.

“He had all the old newspaper clippings from back in 1915, and he sent them all in and they actually had to write a retraction from that saying, ‘sorry that is wrong in the article, it was Eva Draper.’

“I think it was Bart Sinclair that was the journalist at the time and I think Bart is the one that nominated her for the Hall of Fame.

“Her whole life was about horses so just really nice to see that she’s finally recognised for horse racing.”

Sadly, Ron died just over four years ago and did not live long enough to see his mother inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Pam O’Neill rightfully holds the mantle as Queensland and Australia’s first registered female jockey.

But now the tale of Eva Draper breaking through the glass ceiling for women that day in Bundaberg holds its own special place in national racing folklore.

“It’s amazing - she was definitely a pioneer for females and female racing, and I just hope that females continue to get the recognition and have success in the racing industry,” Sue said.