<P> During the 1850s amateur "ladies only" events held in Victoria, Australia, women were not permitted to ride as professional jockeys or on professional tracks . </P> <P> Although women jockeys were barred from riding at registered race meetings, in the mid-1900s Wilhemena Smith rode as Bill Smith at north Queensland racecourses . She was nicknamed Bill Girlie Smith because she arrived on course with her riding gear on under her clothes and did not shower on course . It was only at the time of her death in 1975 that the racing world was officially told that Bill was really Wilhemena . Subsequent inquiries proved that William Smith was actually a woman who had been born Wilhemena Smith in a Sydney hospital in 1886 . In an era when women were clearly denied equality, she had become known as a successful jockey in Queensland country districts as' Bill Smith' . </P> <P> During the late 1960s restrictions against woman trainers were lifted in Australia, but women jockeys were still confined to "ladies only" events, which were held on non-professional tracks . The Victoria Racing Club in 1974 permitted women jockeys to be registered for professional "ladies only" events . In 1978 racing rules in New Zealand were amended to permit women jockeys . </P> <P> In Australia Pam O'Neill and Linda Jones, in 1979, were the pioneers that forced jockey club officials to grant women the right to compete on an equal footing in registered races against men . They were unquestionably the first women jockeys to be licensed to ride in the metropolitan areas of Australia . Previously women had been riding against men in Australia at the unregistered "all - height" meetings . Pam created a world record for any jockey, male or female, when she rode a treble at Southport on her first day's riding . Australia's top woman jockey, Bev Buckingham, became the first woman in the Southern Hemisphere to win 1,000 races . In 1998, in a fall at the Elwick Racecourse (Hobart), she broke her neck . She used a wheelchair for some time afterward, but regained her strength and mobility and was able to walk again without assistance . </P>

How old do you have to be to be a horse jockey