Already a leading rider in her home country, Samantha Collett has relocated to the Sunshine State over the last year for a new challenge.
It has not taken the premiership-winning jockey long to settle in around Queensland as she is regularly in the winners enclosure on metropolitan Saturdays.
To celebrate International Women’s Day, Racing Queensland is recognising the efforts of three hard-working and talented ladies from around the state with Collett representing the thoroughbred code.
To mark the occasion, RQ spoke to Collett, Gemma Hewitt and Jedda Cutlack about their recent achievements, the significance of International Women’s Day, and what they hope to see for women in the industry going forward.
You only recently relocated to Queensland, can you tell us a bit about that move and why Queensland?
So Queensland appealed to me obviously because it is a lovely place to live. It is nice and warm and there is no winter. The move for me was important to further my career, to be more of a challenge and make a little bit more money. I was keen to meet some new faces and make the most of the fantastic career that I have started doing.
What does International Women’s Day mean to you and why do you think it’s so important to celebrate it?
I think it is important to me because I think it is a changing of the times now. You see a lot more women prominent, not just in our industry of racing, but every facet of the work force. It is just part and parcel, I think women should be celebrated all the time and not just on International Women’s Day, personally.
In your time in the industry, how have you seen the growth of female participation and achievement?
I think it is obviously becoming a lot more noticeable especially in our career as women are getting a lot more opportunities. Social media is making it more aware of the success women are having amongst us jockeys. I think we are fortunate that the longevity of our careers is better than the men that we are naturally lighter and we do not have to be so hard on our bodies to make weight. It is apart of the career that slows down a lot of jocks, so that helps us, as well.
Going forward, do you believe that female participation is on an upward trajectory and what more can be done in that space?
I think we are going the right way about things, obviously making people more away of it and changing the stigma around racing especially being a male dominated sport. Everyone’s mindset has changed on that now. Us women can do anything; we can conquer the world. I think for me personally, women have a better insight in horse racing, maybe it is a feminine touch or maybe we are a little kinder to get a little more out of the horses, but I might be a little bit bias around that.
Racing Queensland is proud to support International Women’s Day and its bid to create a gender equal world.
