Penrith student stakes her claim in world of horse-racing

Alongside her studies to become a PE teacher, Emma Sayer of Hackthorpe near Penrith is achieving quite a reputation as one of the small but elite band of female jockeys.

Over the last year, Emma, currently a second year student at the University of Cumbria has notched up a number of successful appearances at race meetings both nationally and internationally.

Last October, for example, she was invited to represent Great Britain in an international ladies race in Abu Dhabi. Emma was selected along with 11 other ladies from a variety of countries to take part in the new Arab Racing series which will be run across the world, with the next race being held in Australia.

Emma had to meet a range of strict criteria in order to be selected, including one that said she had to have to have ridden at least six winners.  As this was the first ever ladies' race in Abu Dhabi, there was a lot of press interest and  a dinner hosted by the Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

The race was won by the 2010-2011 World Champion from Sweden, while Emma achieved sixth place, a superb performance.

She said:: "Abu Dhabi was an amazing experience where I made lots of new friends from a variety of different cultures. I learnt a lot while I was over there and was I extremely lucky to have been invited to represent GB."
Emma recently received the Wetherby’s Award for the Amateur Flat Ride of The Year 2011, after coming first on Hot Rod Mamma at Carlisle Racecourse Ladies' Night last summer.

Emma won in spectacular fashion using carefully worked out tactics.  After moving down from second to last position in the mile race, two furlongs from home, with a gentle squeeze Emma encouraged her horse to chase down the others in the field and draw clear to win by around four lengths.

Already this year she has ridden a 28-1 winner, Markadam, who is trained by her mother and which was the first winner of 2012 in England and Ireland. "The very next day I also had a win in Ayr on Teenage Idol, owned by my grandfather and trained by my grandmother so they were a special couple of days."

And Emma's success continues - currently she's leading the Amateur National Hunt ladies' title for the season, although as she says, with feet firmly on the ground, "That doesn't finish until May, so there's a long way to go!"

Picture shows Emma in red  on Red Hot Mamma, winning at Carlisle Racecourse Ladies' Night last summer.

Image courtesy of John Grossick Photography.