It’s fair to say that the vast majority of trainers and jockeys are male, but that’s slowly beginning to change and the sport provides excellent opportunities for both men and women to compete on a level playing field.
Horse Racing Trainers to Watch: Top 5 Female Trainers in Racing
As such, there are any number of hugely successful female trainers across both codes so we’ve selected five of the best, including two Grand National-winning handlers. It’s definitely worth keeping an eye on the names on this list as there’s plenty more to come from them.
Horse Racing Trainers to Watch: Eve Johnson Houghton
Eve Johnson Houghton has been training in Britain since 2007 and has made a solid start to the current campaign, operating at a strike-rate of 33 per cent so far this season. She’s probably best known for training the popular gelding Accidental Agent, who managed to win the 2018 Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot. The enigmatic gelding refused to race when attempting to repeat the trick the following year.
Chipotle also provided her with a Royal Ascot winner in the 2021 Windsor Castle Stakes and it was a shame that we didn’t get to see him as a three-year-old. Johnson Houghton was the second highest earning female Flat trainer last season and cracked the top 30 in 2023, with a grand total of £774,714 in prize money.
Horse Racing Trainers to Watch: Jane Chapple-Hyam
One criticism of the Flat training scene in Britain is that it can be a bit of a boys club. Jane Chapple-Hyam is a trainer who has capacity to upset the applecart and she definitely managed to do that with multiple Group 1-winning filly Saffron Beach. She was runner-up to Aidan O’Brien’s Mother Earth in the 2021 1000 Guineas but she gained sweet revenge when comfortably dispatching that rival in the Sun Chariot Stakes later on in the season.
Saffron Beach tasted top level success on the continent too, taking the Group 1 Prix Rothschild in good style the following season and that came after an impressive win in the Duke Of Cambridge Stakes at Royal Ascot. Chapple-Hyam is undoubtedly an excellent trainer and she would produce even better results if some bigger owners were to invest in her.
Horse Racing Trainers to Watch: Lucinda Russell
There are few better trainers of staying handicap chasers than Scotland-based handler Lucinda Russell. She currently sits 12th in the trainers’ championship but finished in the top 10 in both of the two previous campaigns. Her most impressive achievements include several Cheltenham Festival winners, such as Corach Rambler, who managed to finish third in the Gold Cup back in March, as well as two Grand National winners. One For Arthur won it back in 2017 and the aforementioned Corach Rambler came out on top back in 2023.
Horse Racing Trainers to Watch: Venetia Williams
Almost always punching above her weight, the Herefordshire-based trainer is also a Grand National winner. Mon Mome tip-toed through the race to win at odds of 100/1 in 2009. She has also won a King George, has two Betfair Chase successes to her name and numerous Cheltenham Festival winners.
Williams has had a particularly successful season so far and although she has had far fewer runners than most of her competitors, she currently sits sixth in the table and is just £150,000 away from hitting the £1,000,000 prize money mark once again. Her stable stars include Betfair Chase winner Royale Pagaille and the very smart chaser L’Homme Presse, who finished a very respectable fourth in the King George. More success could be on the cards for her this season.
Horse Racing Trainers to Watch: Jessica Harrington
Jessica Harrington has been mixing it with the big guns across both codes for a number of years now and she continues to produce winners at the top level. Chasing down Aidan O’Brien and Willie Mullins in the Irish trainers’ championships is never an easy task but she consistently performs at a high level.
She has trained winners of the Champion Hurdle, Champion Chase and the Gold Cup, meaning only a Stayers’ Hurdle success is required in order to complete the set. You can add many top Irish Grade 1 National Hunt wins to that and numerous Group 1s on the Flat. Truly an exceptional trainer, Harrington’s magnificent record speaks for itself and her brilliant reputation is well and truly deserved.
By Adam Scriven
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