Ireland's best known woman jockey, Joanna Morgan, has retired. Morgan (43), has been successfully training horses and also preparing young horses for the sales, and feels she cannot give the appropriate amount of time to race riding.
Originally from Wales, where she rode in point to points, Morgan became a ground breaker for women in racing when she signed apprentice forms to Seamus McGrath in 1975, becoming Ireland's first professional woman jockey.
She made an immediate impression on the first day of the 1976 flat season by edging out Lester Piggott at the Phoenix Park. She also became the first woman to ride at the Royal Ascot meeting.
Morgan estimates she rode 189 winners during her career, with victories in the Irish Cambridgeshire and the Irish Lincoln among the highlights. She also rode a Listed race winner for trainer Noel Meade.
Explaining her decision, Morgan said: "Fitness wise, a jockey has to be riding all the time and I am so busy at home that I'm not being fair to either."
