Gay rode her first winner on the Flat for leading trainer Clive Brittain and at the tender age of 17 years old finished second in the Ladies Amateur Championship, she then won it at 18, check to see if anyone else has won it that young!

After that she turned professional and became Champion Professional Lady Rider three years in a row. Gay was the first woman to ride in a Gold Cup at Ascot on Pretty Picture and the first woman to ride a winner at Royal Ascot when her horse Sprowston Boy won. In total, Gay rode some 60 winners, no mean feat in a country where racing is 95% male orientated.

Her passion for racing took her to New Zealand for the winter winning big races at both the Auckland tracks Ellerslie and Avondale as there were more opportunities for women jockeys, but a constant struggle with her weight made her ill so she decided to give up race riding and return to Britain.

After retiring from race riding she spent a year working in Media which stood her in good stead to start training. She moved back to Newmarket in 1991 and brought a horse called Aberfoyle for 3000 guineas. After four wins, she was hooked! Gay started out by renting a few boxes from Bob Champion but then moved to the state of the art Whitcombe Manor where she felt it would be the difference between a local B & B and The Hilton.

Gay is now back in Newmarket after a period training in Dubai and Lingfield. Her yard is extremely well organised. Gay has to work long hours but still tries to find time for her many friends and is always a very popular party guest. She continues to ride out, makes entries and oversees much of the feeding and training regimes. She is then often off to the races to meet up with her owners and enjoy another day at the races.

 

Owned by: Thanks to Gay for donating this to the auction