FRANCE Galop’s slightly controversial decision at the start of the year to give female riders an allowance of 2 kilos (roughly 4.5lbs) in all races under listed level appears to be a success. During the first quarter of the year female jockeys had more than 300 extra rides compared to the previous period in 2016 and many of these came in the French provinces.

While this allowance evens things up with their supposedly stronger male counterparts, there are certainly several female French riders who are already up to the task, notably Nathalie Desoutter and Delphine Santiago, to name just two.

The latter took her 2017 total wins to 23 (now 26th in the flat list) with a treble at Prunelli di Fiumorbo in Corsica last Sunday and a win at La Teste de Buch the day before.

ADVANTAGE

Desoutter rides on the flat and over jumps. She won the French Grand National at Auteuil in 2010. She has 14 wins this year (13 over jumps, one on the flat) and she is 19th in the jump jockeys table.

A two-kilo benefit has to be an advantage for female jockeys of this class. The increased presence of female riders on French racecourses can only be a good thing for the sport.