The shocking state of female changing rooms dubbed 'racing's dirty secret'

Female riders in British racing continue to face the embarrassment and disruption of having to enter male changing rooms on racecourses that, in the worst cases, provide female jockeys with small, malodorous and outdated facilities described by one trailblazer as "disgusting" and akin to a prison cell.

Following the Racing Post's expose of shocking weighing room standards and the revelation that, in one particularly egregious example, male riders have resorted to using a warm-up bike next to a row of urinals, female riders now lift the lid on what the Professional Jockeys Association believes to be discrimination against an increasingly large percentage of racing's workforce.

While awaiting the conclusion of a nationwide weighing room modernisation project whose final completion date has been pushed back to 2030 – six years later than originally agreed – the PJA is calling for all racecourses to have finished the vital work by the end of next year. 

Weighing rooms special report:

• Part one: ‘All you can think about is that smell’ - the shocking conditions inside Britain’s weighing rooms revealed

Until that happens, female jockeys will be required to have as their work base rooms that are all too often overcrowded, uncomfortable and unsuitable for professional athletes. Jockeys have complained of a changing room that is "disgusting" due to a persistent drainage odour and another where the benches react like a see-saw when only sat on at one end. In keeping with their male counterparts, women have also been forced to deal with facilities tarnished by damp, mould, flaking paint and a lack of hot water.

However, the PJA's most pressing concern is that four years on from the conclusion of the independent disciplinary panel hearing that resulted in Robbie Dunne being found guilty of bullying Bryony Frost, female jockeys say they must still spend time in male changing rooms to access the professional services provided by valets. The Racecourse Association (RCA) insists that now need not happen, yet jockeys have told the Racing Post temporary measures intended to give female riders better access to valets are hopelessly inadequate.

Hereford's female changing area is unsuitably small

Turner, who last weekend announced her retirement after a career that spanned a quarter of a century, said: "I find it embarrassing when I have to tell someone not involved in racing that female jockeys still have to use the guys' changing rooms. It's so outdated. It's embarrassing for us and it must be embarrassing for the men. 

"The interim measures don't work. At Newcastle they've put a set of scales outside the girls' room but that's in the main weighing area where trainers are coming and going to collect saddles. It's unfair on us having to deal with that. Jockeys in the girls' room are supposed to ring a bell to call the valet but that is never going to work because the valets have so many people to deal with in the guys' room. The only way we will ever have a fair system that works for everyone is when all racecourses have a neutral valet area."

In full agreement, jump jockey and PJA board member Tabitha Worsley said: "The tracks that have done the work deserve massive praise. They have male and female changing areas and a neutral valet area in a central point. They also have a lovely rest area where people can sit and interact with people, male or female.

"However, the interim measures put us at a massive disadvantage. They don't give us as much access to the valets as the men, so at a lot of tracks we still have to go into the male changing room. The lads are respectful and don't walk around naked but they shouldn't have to have us in there and we shouldn't have to go in there."

The female changing room at Kelso is small and outdated

PJA chair Nick Attenborough echoes that view. "The state of some current facilities is racing's dirty secret," he said. "There is a requirement for racecourses to have two toilets and two showers. One racecourse has only one of each and the female changing room is like a broom cupboard. It is blatant discrimination and it really makes me angry. 

"In particular, I find it staggering that in order to do their job we are still requiring female jockeys to go into the male changing room. We are the world's number-one sport in which men and women compete equally. Why, then, are we alienating female riders? 

"Imagine a 17-year-old girl who is about to have her first ride on a racecourse being told she has to go into the men's changing room? That is embarrassing and humiliating. In no other sport or workplace would a woman have to go into a male changing room to carry out her job. We have received the opinion of a barrister who said it would not be hard to prove discrimination is taking place."

In reacting to concerns expressed by jockeys, the RCA insisted the temporary measures in place "exceed" safeguarding requirements.

The Wolverhampton male changing room in 2023 with female riders inside it. Although interim measures were put in place after this picture was taken, female jockeys still feel they have to enter the male changing room

After noting the RCA has been "working collaboratively" with the BHA and PJA on the "multi-million pound programme of development", racecourse services director Caroline Davies said: "While this development is under way, there has been a requirement for interim measures to be put in place at some racecourses. 

"Details of these measures, including all safeguarding protocols, were agreed by the cross-industry project group and communicated in December 2024. Quite simply, if these interim measures are adhered to by all parties, then all safeguarding requirements are exceeded.

"Should any participant experience any environment that they feel is inappropriate, we urge them to raise this with the clerk of the course or raceday stewards at the earliest opportunity. This will allow any remedial work to take place on the raceday, and subsequent reports can be made to the relevant authorities which will allow us to rectify for future events. The RCA is not aware of any formal reports being made, and we cannot take supportive action without them."

The Jockey Club has redeveloped facilities at two tracks but is not due to finish work at Huntingdon, Market Rasen and Wincanton until 2030. A spokesperson said that, "we currently meet the standards required as part of the interim measures at all of our racecourses", and stressed that "separate changing rooms for male and female jockeys already exist at all UK racecourses".

Speaking for the BHA, head of raceday officials Cathy O'Meara said: "As elite athletes, the facilities our jockeys use on all British racecourses should be of a consistently high standard and provide equal access for riders of all genders.

"There has been important progress in recent years, especially around minimum safeguarding standards, which help ensure a safe, supportive and inclusive environment for everyone working in the weighing room area on a raceday. This includes private changing and shower areas for those aged under 18 or for jockeys who feel more comfortable using them.

"But it is clear the more comprehensive redevelopment work has not been delivered in line with the original timescales, and we understand how disappointing and frustrating this is."

Chepstow's female toilet was deeply unsatisfactory until improvement work was carried out late last year

That frustration has been expressed in two letters sent to the BHA by Turner, who believes the governing body has been complicit in allowing courses to provide unsatisfactory working environments.

"At tracks with tiny changing rooms it feels like you're in prison," Turner told the Racing Post. "At one recent Lingfield meeting there were seven of us crammed inside a small changing room. There are no separate areas for the toilet and shower, so it feels like you have to go to the toilet in public and because of the condensation from the shower, our clothes become wet and smelly.

"The worst thing about Lingfield is our changing room stinks. There is a problem with the drainage. We have been moaning about it for years. The lads moan about it, too, but it's not as bad for them because their room is so much bigger. Our room is disgusting. While you're in there you feel stressed and frustrated."

Hayley Turner: "At tracks with tiny changing rooms it feels like you're in prison"Credit: Edward Whitaker

An Arena Racing Company (Arc) spokesperson said numerous efforts to fix the drainage issue had been unsuccessful but pointed out the track's weighing room facility will be refurbished this year. The same is true at Ludlow, one of the tracks criticised by Worsley, who revealed that female riders at Bangor have also had to use a warm-up bike in their toilet.

"This isn't just a female problem but the girls generally have it worse," said Worsley. "Ludlow's changing room has benches more suitable for children. If you sit on one end and there is no one at the other end, the bench tips over. At Kelso our changing room is literally a broom cupboard with nowhere nice to sit. It's barely comfortable with two people in it."

Ludlow general manager Simon Sherwood argued that only one complaint had ever been lodged, but admitted: "The female changing room isn't perfect right now. It is what it was and it hasn't changed but things are challenging at the moment for racecourses and the last thing to do would be spending £2,000 or £3,000 on a room that will be knocked down in a few weeks' time."

Ludlow's work will be completed by October. Progress at Kelso will be slower.

Kelso's weighing room facilities are housed within a Grade A listed building

Managing director Jonathan Garratt said: "The location of the weighing room, within a Grade A listed building of significant architectural and historical importance, makes improving the layout and increasing the size of jockeys' facilities at Kelso a significant challenge.

"We therefore decided, prior to the pandemic, to build an entirely new facility. This is in the pipeline, but will unfortunately take time to reach fruition. Finance is a major obstacle, especially as borrowing has become more difficult and prices for building materials keep rising."

Money pressures were also raised by Davies, who stated RCA members are committed to a project whose cost, she said, will exceed £40 million.

Davies added: "Racecourses will also be covering other essential overheads such as the rise in National Insurance and utilities caps and investing in the sport with increased prize-money and enhancements to equine welfare. As such, a phased approach to complete the work must be adopted."

The Jockey Club also repeated its resolve in relation to the project but explained that its multi-million-pound investment comes amid "challenging financial circumstances". A spokesperson added: "Such a sizeable financial investment needs to be phased, allowing us to ensure we continue to support the industry in key areas such as prize-money and other facilities."

For former rider Adele Mulrennan, now a PJA board member and ITV broadcaster, the industry-wide process is taking far too long and uncovers a lack of respect for jockeys.

Mulrennan, whose husband Paul is a leading Flat rider, said: "I'm very passionate about the young generation coming through. My daughter Scarlett is 15, and isn't yet sure if she wants to be a jockey. I want to make sure if she does, she and any jockey has facilities that make them feel safe, secure and happy.

Cushions have been added to the benches in Wincanton's female changing room but the room is still extremely small

"We can't keep telling jockeys they are super athletes while at the same time giving them facilities that are no more than basic. At some meetings jockeys can be stuck in these weighing rooms for five or six hours, staring into a dark, dingy, depressing room. We also can't keep talking about male and female jockeys competing with each other on the same terms when the females don't get anywhere near the same standard of facilities as the males. Jockeys deserve to be treated better."

Comment: status quo at too many tracks is simply indefensible

British racing has set out its stall to market the sport through jockeys, Champions: Full Gallop and the David Power Cup being two recent examples. Central to the plan has been the promotion of jockeys as top-level professional athletes. The Racing Post's special report has revealed the extent to which those athletes are too often not being shown the respect professional athletes deserve.

There are understandable reasons why in these difficult times some racecourses have wanted to delay spending the money needed to upgrade weighing room facilities. However, the harsh reality is the status quo at too many tracks is simply indefensible. 

On top of the ignominy faced by jockeys encountering unacceptably poor facilities, it remains the case that female riders still feel they have to enter male changing rooms in order to do their job. To anyone outside of racing, that would be unthinkable. For courses to claim interim measures are in place is not good enough if the people who have to use those measures have repeatedly shown they do not work.

It was agreed four years ago that the modernisation project would be completed by October last year. It is therefore bewildering that the deadline can have been pushed back to 2030.

The 15 racecourses, big and small, that have completed the work have highlighted what can be done and at what speed. As the PJA has urged, the BHA should consider bringing forward the deadline to the end of next year and be more willing to use its licensing powers as a means of enforcement.

Read these next:

‘All you can think about is that smell’ - the shocking conditions inside Britain’s weighing rooms revealed  

'It's unacceptable' - PJA says continued female discrimination a consequence of delays to weighing room modernisation

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