Violet Virginia "Pinkie" Smith was the first licensed female

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...

in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

and the sixth woman to be licensed as a jockey in the United States.

History

Smith grew up in

Auburn, Washington Auburn is a city in King County, Washington, United States (with a small portion crossing into neighboring Pierce County). The population was 87,256 at the 2020 Census. Auburn is a suburb in the Seattle metropolitan area, and is currently rank ...

. Smith rode horses from the time she was a child. According to her mother, Smith was elated when she learned that "

Penny Ann Early Penny Ann Early (born May 30, 1943) is an American athlete who achieved two notable firsts in her lifetime as she was the first female jockey to be licensed to ride parimutuel horse races, and the first woman ever to play in a professional men's ...

was going to break into the previously all-male occupation of riding." In 1969, Smith became the first female jockey to be licensed in the Northwest and the sixth woman in the country to obtain a jockey's license. She obtained an apprentice license at the

Portland Meadows Portland Meadows was an American horse racing venue in Portland, Oregon, owned by The Stronach Group since July 3, 2011 and previously owned by Magna Entertainment Corp., MI Developments Inc. (MID) 2001. Built by William P. Kyne, who also built ...

race track on April 22, 1969. She was the "top girl rider" at the Pitt Park Meet in 1972. In 1983, Smith won the Arizona Breeders' Derby riding Arizona Brave. With over 6,000 starts and more than 600 wins, she last rode races in 1988.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Violet Virginia Living people American female jockeys People from Auburn, Washington Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women