Meriel Patricia Tufnell (1948–2002) was the first female jockey in the UK to win a race under Jockey Club rules. She was born in Winchester on 12 December 1948 into a prominent

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

family. Her grandmother, Sybil Tufnell, was the first woman in the UK to run a firm of estate agents, and her father was a naval captain who served in the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

and Australia. Born with dislocated hips and later suffering childhood asthma, she overcame these disabilities to ride in gymkhanas and then

BSJA British Showjumping is the Great Britain governing body for the equestrian sport of showjumping. It provides the competitors for Team GBR in international competition and sets the rules under which affiliated competitions are held. It is one of ...

showjumping. She rode her mother's novice mare, Scorched Earth, to victory in the Goya Stakes at Kempton Park on 6 May 1972, the first ever ladies' flat race held under Jockey Club rules. Neither horse nor jockey had raced previously. The race was the first in a twelve race series for female jockeys, and with three winners from seven rides, Tufnell was the series champion. She continued to ride competitively until 1974, including in the first mixed race, at

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

, in March 1974, and founded the Lady Jockeys' Association of Great Britain, the first such body in the world, after a meeting at

Haydock Haydock is a village within the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, in Merseyside, England. At the 2011 Census, it had a population of 11,416 Haydock's historic area covers the Haydock electoral ward and a section of the Blackbrook ward. Haydo ...

. She was appointed MBE in 1976, a year after retiring from race riding. She opened an equestrian yard and became an instructor, and later went on to train point-to-pointers and hunter chasers with her husband, trainer Glenn Humphrey, whom she married in 1983. The couple separated in 1994. In 2002, she died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

at the age of 53 having raised several thousand pounds for Sparks, a children's cancer

charity Charity may refer to: Giving * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing * C ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tufnell, Meriel Patricia 1948 births 2002 deaths British female jockeys English jockeys