From the very beginning, Chantal Sutherland has been a marketing jackpot for professional horseracing. In her rookie year she was hired by Del Mar Racetrack to help promote their racing product and attract a new, more youthful audience. Since that time, Sutherland has went on to gain several modeling contracts and was also a star of the reality show Jockeys on the Animal Planet television network. She had a recurring role on the HBO series Luck and People magazine also named Sutherland one of their “100 Most Beautiful People.”
Despite all the attention that has been devoted to Chantal Sutherland’s visual appeal, she is more than just a pretty face. She won the prestigious Sovereign Award for Best Apprentice Jockey in her rookie year and has ridden some of the top horses in the country. She became the first woman to ride in the world’s richest horserace, the $10 million Dubai World Cup, aboard Game On Dude in 2012. In 2010 the horses ridden by Sutherland earned an astounding $8 million in purses.
Legendary jockey Gary Stevens has called Sutherland “the Queen of the Longshots.” She is known for giving every horse an honest ride no matter what their odds are at post time. Sutherland is tough, too, and can compete with the best men in the sport.
After a brief retirement in 2012, Sutherland returned to racing on the Southern California circuit.
Chantal Sutherland’s Career and the Ongoing Progress of Female Jockeys
Chantal Sutherland’s career as a leading Canadian-based jockey — including multiple riding titles at Woodbine and consistent presence among the top Canadian riders — demonstrated that female jockeys could succeed at the highest competitive levels of North American racing without the limiting of their opportunities to minor circuits or restricted categories. Her success at Woodbine, one of the continent’s most competitive racing venues, validated the talent and professionalism that Julie Krone had first proven on the major circuit in the 1980s and 1990s.
Her public profile extended beyond the racetrack, generating mainstream media attention that helped racing reach audiences who might not have engaged with the sport otherwise. The combination of competitive success and broader public visibility mirrors the role that prominent female athletes play in other sports — creating entry points for audiences whose initial engagement is with the athlete as a person rather than the sport as a competition. For more on female jockeys in North American racing, our profiles of Julie Krone and Donna Barton Brothers cover other pioneering riders. And our article on Emma-Jayne Wilson covers a contemporary who made similar breakthroughs in Asian racing.
