For some it's about the horses, for others it's the craic. Gemma Tiptonmeets some of the feisty Irish women holding the reins as they prepare for the Cheltenham Festival
In the same way as (almost) all women cook, but it is mainly the men who become chefs, pony-mad girls outnumber the boys at riding stables, and yet the horseracing industry is still pretty much male-dominated. Nature or nurture, it's hard to know - for while most of our competitive sports were developed to be played by men (and who's to know what our sporting calendar would look like if women weren't forever trying to beat the men at their own game?), they are also often segregated. In fact, equine sport is one of the few fields where men and women can compete against one another on an equal basis.
THE TRAINER
Jessica Harrington runs one of Ireland's leading National Hunt yards
"I was brought up with horses. My father had a training permit, and my brother rode. We both evented, and my brother went on to ride as an amateur. Then, when I married, my husband had a permit and a couple of horses, and I just took over the training. It seemed a natural progression. A couple of people asked me to train their horses for them, and I got a public licence and it went from there. The first year I had eight or nine horses, now I have about 90.
"Horseracing is a very male sport. The majority of people working in the industry are men - the stewards, the starters, the judges, the Clerk of the Scales, they're all men. While so many little girls are into horses, it just happens that men play a bigger role in racing. But more women are coming into training, and anyway, I think of myself as a trainer, not a woman trainer.
"In the beginning it was harder, but I've had my licence for 14 years, and people accept it. We're all the same, we're all trying to produce winners. I don't know that I've been particularly good, I know I've been lucky, but it is hard work.
"Cheltenham is special, it's the Irish taking on the English on their own hallowed ground, and we've got very good at it in the past few years. The Celtic Tiger has helped. In the 1980s and 1990s, all the good horses got sold out of Ireland, but now they're staying here.
"Our preparations have been going on for a while, we've done our entries, and now we're working out if it's a dream to take a horse, or if he's actually going to be running with a chance. With the older horses we can see how they're doing - Mac's Joy will definitely be going, if he's sound; but with the younger ones, you're watching to see if they're retaining their form.
"We send them over a couple of days in advance. I think I'll be bringing five or six this year. The ones who will be running on the first Tuesday will go over on Saturday, have a walk on Sunday and a canter on Monday and be ready to race the next day.
"They go by boat, and the journey doesn't seem to unsettle them. No, I don't have any tips for the festival - that's what the newspapers are for."
THE JOCKEY
Nina Carberryhas racing in the blood. Daughter of Thomas Carberry, and sister of Paul, she is Ireland's most successful female National Hunt jockey, and was the first female in history to ride a winner against the professionals at Cheltenham in 2005
"I was a sporty kid, so being a jockey just came from there and it all fell into place. I think women aren't jockeys because they don't think of doing it. Men and women can compete equally in horseracing though, so hopefully more women will take it up. Ninety-nine percent of the race is about the horse, the best one should win on the day, so while strength can be important, it's really about the horse and your tactics.
"I grew up with five boys and don't have any sisters, so it doesn't make any difference to me that it's mainly men at the race track. I'm used to them. As far as horses go, geldings probably do better because they can be a bit stronger than mares, but you get exceptional mares, too.
"Cheltenham is the meeting everyone wants to go to. Everyone wants a winner there, everyone loves it, everyone bets there, everyone watches it - that's why it's so special. When I won there it was amazing, a great feeling, but it's always good to win on the big day. We shouldn't forget the Irish meetings though, there's great racing here, and great money at meetings such as Punchestown, Fairyhouse and Navan.
"It's still up in the air what I'll be riding at Cheltenham this year, I'll probably find out the week before. I'm preparing by riding out every day. When it comes to the race, you have to put your nerves out the window, you're obviously going to be excited, and that gets you going. It's hard to describe what it feels like to be galloping along with a field of horses. I've been doing it all my life, so it just comes naturally. It's just a race; you want to jump well, and you ride to win. I had a fall a few months back, but you just get back up and on with it. At this stage, for me, it's a case of getting the right horses at the right time. I don't think I have to prove myself against the men - like I said, I race against them, and I ride to win."
THE BEST DRESSED LADY
Chanelle McCoyis married to champion jockey Anthony McCoy, and has also ridden a couple of winners herself. She is promoting Cheltenham's first Ladies' Day
"My family has been involved in racing for years. We grew up going to the races and we always had horses in training. My grandfather, James Kelly, was a jockey, and I used to ride out myself in the summers. I got my amateur licence, and rode two winners in the 1990s. The first winner was one of my dad's horses. It was a total steering job, but it was in my home town of Galway, and I was up against 26 guys in the race, so it was a real thrill. After I rode my second winner, I hung my boots up, and then I met Anthony. He's been champion jockey 11 times in a row, and he's hopefully on his way to a 12th.
"I won again at Galway in 2005, this time as Best Dressed Lady. Ladies' Day at Cheltenham (which is on Thursday, March 15th) will be in keeping with the tone of Cheltenham - discreet and upmarket. The weather dictates a lot. It's March, so there'll be more coats and suits than at Aintree or Ascot. Ladies' Day is fun, because it's all about dressing up. There's a very big social scene at Cheltenham during the day. There's a box for wives and girlfriends, and we all go and hang out together. Yes, we shout for our own fellas, but that's all the rivalry there is - and no, it's definitely not like Footballers' Wives. We all dress up for Cheltenham, and in the run-up we plan our outfits. You need four for Cheltenham, and three for Aintree - those are the two biggest events in the UK racing calendar, so there'd be a lot of fashion chat between us before those two. After the races it's not that sociable, we might go for dinner with some of the jockeys, but we'd be home and in bed by 10pm because Anthony's racing the next day.
"Women trainers are highly regarded and highly successful, and we're launching the Outstanding Contribution Award, which will celebrate women's increasing role in jump racing. With the jockeys, it's still more heavily dominated by men, but jockeys such as Katie Walsh and Nina Carberry have made super inroads. There's still a way to go though before we reach the equilibrium women have on the trainer scene."
THE BOOKIE
Ellen Martinis one of Ireland's very few female bookies. She can be found on-course at 14 Irish race tracks, Cork greyhound race track, and all the southern point-to-points
"No female wakes up in the morning and says 'I want to become a bookie'. It's a family thing. My dad is a bookie, and I used to work for him, clerking at the races, getting the bets. There was great freedom travelling around, meeting loads of characters, and I loved it. By the time I was 18, I was working for other bookies, and by 19, I got my own licence. I was working part-time at Paddy Power, and working at weekends and in the evenings for myself. Eventually, I decided to take a gamble and go out on my own. With Paddy Power at least there was a wage packet, but there must have been some sensible cells left in my brain, because I took a jobshare at a chiropractors.
"The family were very supportive, but it's in the blood. My mum worked in the Tote in Cork for almost 30 years, and my grandfather had greyhounds; he worked for Joe Donnelly, who was a huge success story in Irish betting. I come from a housing estate, so it wasn't that we had horses around us. We had a few greyhounds, but horses are my love, more than dogs.
"It was hard setting up on my own. There's a bookmaker who has since passed on, and the first day I worked for myself, which was 13 years ago, this guy was overheard saying: 'She won't last . . .' and the ironic thing is he's dead and buried, but I'm still in the business. It would be very hard to work for someone else now.
"I go over to Cheltenham every year, except one year when I was too pregnant to fly. I have one son, so he'll be looking out for his mum on the telly while Cheltenham is on. The first year we planned it, I, my dad and another guy decided to invest in a stand there, which costs £18,500. But then foot-and-mouth disease happened, and the racing was cancelled. I was devastated, and I was trying to convince myself it wasn't a sign (I'm really like that, into fate and looking out for signs).
"There's a lot of expense attached to going to Cheltenham - flights, accommodation, fees - and it's hard work. But I go because it's magic to be part of the atmosphere. By New Year, everyone's talking about the next Cheltenham, and to be a part of that is unbelievable. It's exhausting. A lot of bookies will work all day, then go out and make a night of it, but I can't - it's work or play for me, I can't do both.
"The odds are set in the morning. There are guys who compile them, and they'll put up boards, and I'll work off that. You stand up and put up your odds, and if all the money is coming in on one horse, you'll change the odds to try and balance the books. Tipping is hard, because I never fancy horses. I tip the jockeys instead, and I'll be expecting Ruby Walsh to have a few winners. There was a good tip out on a horse called Mountain - but I don't know - I just hope the short favourites get beaten."