Sideline Sid Sports correspondant & historian www.sunlive.co.nz

Last week's Melbourne Cup winning ride, by Michelle Payne on Prince of Penzance, highlighted the inequality of lady jockeys in Australia.

While Michelle was born in Australia, her family hails from New Zealand, and crossed the ditch for better opportunities in the racing industry.

After the big race, Michelle was very vocal in telling a large audience of the challenges lady riders face to reach an equal footing with the men in Australia.

The winner of the cup was also Kiwi bred, and brought our racing and breeding industries accolades for the first time in a number of years.

New Zealand led Australia in licensing women as jockeys, and the Bay of Plenty played a big part in the charge to license lady riders, with the region holding a number of (non-betting) powder puff derby's in the early 1970s

Linda Jones was the first to apply for a New Zealand apprentice jockey's license in September 1976, but was refused on the grounds that she was too old and not strong enough.

This was despite the fact she'd won the inaugural Qantas International Women's Handicap at Rotorua, during Women's International Year in 1975.

Finally, in July 1977, the New Zealand Racing Conference approved the licensing of women as jockeys. The first woman to ride and win in New Zealand was Canadian Joan Phipps, who won on Daphne at Te Awamutu in November 1977.

As the prospective lady riders had to serve a probationary period, the first Kiwi lady riders made their debut on July 15, 1978, with Sue Day becoming the first professional female jockey to ride a winner in New Zealand a week later.

However, it was Linda Jones that was the banner leader for female jockeys in the early days.

She grabbed media headlines when she rode six winners in the first five weeks of the 1978/79 season and before the season was done, she had achieved the rare feat of riding four winners in a day.

Linda also became the first woman to ride against the men in Australia and the first woman in Australasia, Great Britain, Europe or North America to ride a derby winner (Holy Toledo in the Wellington Derby).

Today, Trudy Thornton and Linda Ballantyne have ridden more than 500 winners, with Debbie Healey stuck agonisingly close on 499.

The star event at the Tauranga racecourse each season is the Japan New Zealand International Trophy race, with lady jockeys having ridden four of the winners since the dawn of the new Millennium.

In 2000, Lisa Allpress rode Cinder Bella to victory with Trudy Thornton winning on Society Beau just two years later.

The 2013 running of Tauranga's premier race resulted in victory by Our Famous Eve ridden by Kelly Myers, with Sam Spratt and Julinsky Princess taking out the 2015 edition.

This Saturday's race meeting at the Gate Pa course in Tauranga will see plenty of lady riders in action. The current jockey premiership leader, Lisa Allpress, will probably be here, with Sam Spratt and Trudy Thornton also likely to be in attendance.