Kembla Grange’s female trainers Kristie George, Diane Poidevin-Laine, Elsie Green, Gwenda Markwell, Theresa Bateup, Donna Grisedale, Tara Poidevin-Laine, Lauren Davies, Michelle Ritchie and Louise Dean ahead of Ladies Day on Saturday. Absent: Deborah Walters. Picture: ROBERT PEET
Who said racing was a boys-only club?
While Gwenda Markwell is commonly referred to as the Queen of Kembla, she's not short of support when it comes to the battle of the sexes around the track.
On the eve of the Illawarra Turf Club's annual Ladies Day on Saturday, the female presence has swelled to the point where almost one in two trainers in the region are of the fairer sex.
According to the ITC, 11 of the 24 trainers who call Wollongong home are women.
Markwell, who has won the last 10 Kembla Grange trainer premierships, said: "It's great to see."
Kembla's leading ladies range from 78-year-old Elsie Green to Michelle Ritchie, who has held her licence for only a matter of days and is preparing to saddle up her first runner on Saturday.
Louise Dean joked it wouldn't be long until the girls outnumbered the boys at Kembla.
"There should be more of us," she said. "By weight of numbers we might eventually wear them down."
Saturday's meeting will feature free entry for the first 250 ladies through the gate, more than $2500 in prizes for the Fashions in the Field competition and a DJ to keep racegoers entertained.