Lizzie Kelly (born 24 April 1993) is a retired British jockey who participated in

National Hunt In horse racing in the United Kingdom, France and Republic of Ireland, National Hunt racing requires horses to jump fences and ditches. National Hunt racing in the UK is informally known as "jumps" and is divided into two major distinct branches: ...

racing. Kelly predominantly rode horses for her

horse trainer A horse trainer is a person who tends to horses and teaches them different disciplines. Some of the responsibilities trainers have are caring for the animals' physical needs, as well as teaching them submissive behaviors and/or coaching them for e ...

stepfather, Nick Williams as well as her mother, Jane Williams, and also for trainer Neil King.

Career

In early November 2015 she came second on Aubusson in the Grand Prix d'Automne at Auteuil. If she had won she would have been the first female jockey to win a Grade 1 race in France. On Boxing Day 2015 however she gained what was then her most notable success to date when Tea For Two won the

Kauto Star Novices' Chase The Kauto Star Novices' Chase is a Grade 1 National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Kempton Park over a distance of about 3 miles (4,828 metres ...

, making her the first female jockey to win a Grade One race in Britain, the horse being trained by Nick Williams and owned by her mother Jane Williams. In February 2016 she won Europe's richest handicap hurdle, the Betfair Hurdle, on Agrapart at Newbury, and the following year she became only the second woman to ride in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, again on Tea For Two, but she was unseated from her horse at the second fence. A few weeks later she won the Grade 1

Betfred Bowl The Betway Bowl is a Grade 1 National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run at Aintree over a distance of about 3 miles and 1 furlong (3 mi ...

on Tea For Two. The following year, she won the Ultima Handicap Chase at the

Cheltenham Festival The Cheltenham Festival is a horse racing-based meeting in the National Hunt racing calendar in the United Kingdom, with race prize money second only to the Grand National. The four-day festival takes place annually in March at Cheltenham Ra ...

, riding Coo Star Sivola, trained by Nick Williams. She rode in the Cheltenham Gold Cup on Tea For Two for the second year in a row, where she finished seventh. In July 2020, Kelly announced her immediate retirement from race riding following the news she was expecting her first child.

Personal life

Kelly married her partner of more than 12-years in July 2019.

Major wins

* Betway Bowl - ''Tea For Two (2017)'' *

- ''Tea For Two (2015)''

References

1993 births Living people British female jockeys {{UK-horseracing-bio-stub