Introducing an allowance would see demand for top female riders rocket

Female jockeys are now receiving a 2kg (4.4lb) allowance in most French races, and last week this column showed the strike-rates leading female Flat jockeys might have registered in recent seasons had they taken off an extra 4lb. Let’s switch our focus to the top leading female jump jockeys and apply similar methods to estimate the strike-rates they might have achieved since 2010 with a 4lb female allowance.

Methodology and ballpark figure for strike-rate uplift

To get a quick ballpark figure of how much uplift a jump jockey’s strike-rate would typically have with an extra 4lb claim, we can look at the percentage of runners who were beaten by fewer than four lengths.