Newmarket to rename race in honour of first female trainer in Britain

Newmarket will rename a race on Qipco 2,000 Guineas day after Ellen Chaloner, who was recently revealed to have been the first woman to hold a trainer's licence in Britain. The announcement coincides with International Women's Day.

Chaloner was granted a permit by the Jockey Club to succeed her late husband Tom in 1886 and train out of Osborne Stables in Newmarket, which is now part of Sir Mark Prescott's operation. Her descendants, including former jockey Charlie Swan, and the Newmarket Journal have worked to gain Chaloner greater recognition, starting with fundraising for a headstone on her grave in Newmarket Cemetery. Before the discovery of Chaloner’s story, Norah Wilmot and Florence Nagle were believed to have been the first women to be granted a licence in 1966.

The site of the grave of Ellen Chaloner in Newmarket Cemetery

Joe Rendall, communications leader for the Jockey Club East, said: “The recent campaign by various members of the Chaloner family was to see that Ellen and the site in Newmarket where she is buried are properly commemorated. The Jockey Club began to think of other ways Ellen could be commemorated and I’m delighted to announce there will be a Listed race on Qipco 2,000 Guineas day in May permanently renamed in her honour."

The race chosen to carry her name is a Listed fillies' race for three-year-olds and up previously known as the Kilvington Stakes, which was staged at Nottingham until 2022.

Originally from Yorkshire, Chaloner was born into a big racing family and was one of 11 children. Her father was a trainer and she married his apprentice jockey Tom Chaloner before they moved to Newmarket in 1872. Chaloner later trained at Osborne House Stables but he died aged 47 in 1886 prompting his widow Ellen to be granted a permit to continue to use Newmarket Heath. She won the Jersey Stakes with Jersey Lily the following year. Recent research has revealed that Ellen quit training after a fire at the yard in 1894 but remained a popular figure in Newmarket until her death at the age of 98 in 1944.

Swan is a great, great grandson of Ellen Chaloner, and he said: "My mum Theresa is a Chaloner and kept saying that my great grandfather and grandmother used to ride, which is probably where I get my talent from. It’s fantastic that they are renaming a race the Ellen Chaloner Stakes in her honor and hopefully I’ll be there on 2,000 Guineas day.”

Sir Mark Prescott said: “My predecessor at Osborne Stables, Mr Waugh, spoke very highly of Ellen Chaloner who outlived all of her seven children. She was a remarkable woman who lived in some style and I would have liked to have gone around evening stables with her. After he acquired it, Mr Waugh changed a lot on the yard which has just 19 boxes but I’m pleased to say I put it all back as it was.”

As for his chances of having a runner in the Ellen Chaloner Stakes, the Arc-winning trainer added: “It’s only six furlongs so it might be a bit speedy for me but it is a race that produces good mares you could say as Kind [dam of Frankel] won it a few years ago.”

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