Sandy Schleiffers - Jockeying for Position

My entire life has been about Jockeying for Position. I believe you can attain any realistic dream as long as you are in the right place at the right time and truly want to attain it. My life is the epitome of this philosophy. Im sure you have heard of the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker. Well, I am the nun, the jock, and the doc.

As I contemplate the good old days, I can still hear the crowd screaming and cheering as I turn for home, racing down the stretch to the wire aboard my mount, Minnesota Beauty, to win my first race. I can hear the announcer yelling in the mic my name instead of my horses name because he is so excited. I can also still hear some of the people in the crowd yelling, Go home and wash the dishes, Go have babies, You dont belong here. That sarcasm didnt really bother me though, because I was on a mission. I was doing what I had dreamed of doing my entire life. I was a jockey. I was the real deal. I was making history.

It has been over 50 years since the first women conquered the barriers that prevented them from competing as equals with males in the sport of kings. Those of us who conquered those barriers against becoming jockeys are the women pioneers of yesteryear.

Back then it was a new age for women in general and in sport. It was an unpredictable time; it was also an exciting time because dreams could come true even though those dreams were not concurrent ideologies of what a woman should be. It was a time of indecision as well because many women had an overwhelming urge to be considered equals to their male counterparts but didnt know how to accomplish this end. Thus, someone had to take a stand. Therefore, women like me did so by refusing to be turned away from a male-dominated profession because of tradition. Proof that we conquered those ill-fated traditions is truly evident watching many of the talented women jockeys who came years after us.

In 1969, I became the fourth woman jockey in American history to ride and win a race at a recognized thoroughbred track, the first woman okayed to ride in California, the first woman jockey to ride and win in Arizona and Colorado, and the first woman jockey to be accepted into the male Jockeys Guild. My racing career spanned some seven years during which I rode races all over the United States, in Canada, and in Mexico.

There are many unanswered questions from back in the day. Unanswered questions like how did women like me overcome the opposition against them to become jockeys; what were the events leading up to me and other women becoming jockeys; what was it like for a woman jockey on and off the track; what were the defeats and cherished moments of a woman jockey back then, what was life like after a racing career? To date, these questions have not been answered because few pioneer women jockeys have shared their experiences from those triumphant days. I think its time to do so.

It was the best of times and sometimes the worst of times, but for all of that, I wouldnt trade my racing career nor my part in history for anything. My name is Sandy Schleiffers, and this is my story. I hope you have as much fun reading it as I did living it.