Chantal Sutherland
Chantal
Sutherland has been tearing it up at Woodbine Racetrack in Canada. We knew we
had to get this fine rider on our page and here is a recent phone interview
I did with her.
FOTH: Where were you born
and where did you grow up?
CS: I was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in a town called
Catatonia in Canada.
FOTH: Do you have any brothers or sisters?
CS: I have an older brother. He is 29 and an older
sister. She is 32.
FOTH: What sort of kid were you growing up?
CS: Very active. Very aggressive. I did a lot of show
jumping events with my sister. We always lived on a farm and I had 2 ponies,
she had horses and my dad was avid in harness racing.
FOTH: What event or events led to you being a jockey? Did you know when you
were young that you wanted to be a jockey?
CS: I didn't. It kinda happened when I did show jumping
and stuff. I was more interested in pursuing international, digging jumping
and stuff like that and I went away to boarding school and my parents divorced
and I brought my house there for a while. I started showing other interests
like soccer and field hockey and other sports. I ended up bringing my horse
home and I played field hockey for the Ontario team and then I tried out for
the Junior World Cup team and I made it till final cut and played for a farm
team for a while and then finally for the University of Frankford. I just started
getting out of it for political reasons. I was too small. I had come into field
hockey late so my technical skills weren't as good as others that were playing.
When I was at the University I was doing a summer job of galloping race horses
on a farm. Then I wanted to go to the racetrack. But my dad was strictly against
me going to any racetrack. He did not think it was suitable at first, for me
or my character. He was really interested in me doing other things. Anyway,
I ended up going to the racetrack anyway. I kinda just told him I was gonna
go to the racetrack whether he liked it or not. He decided if I was gonna do
it he was gonna find me a nice trainer that would help me out. We did that together
and when I was at the track I started getting interested in being a jockey cause
of the weight and I had the athleticism of riding. But I wasn't too serious
about it. While at class one day while thinking of jobs I wrote down jockey
as a joke, but decided to make a career out of it. I made a plan and marketed
myself and I went away to the US and was trained by Angel Cordero and Shane
Sellers and Edgar Prado taught me a lot too. I went to Saratoga Racetrack and
I worked for Scotty Schulhofer, he had Lemon Drop Kid and he taught me so much.
Showed me how to work horses properly, how to race pace, taught me the technical
skills. Shane Sellers had me on an Equicizer everyday. Spent 2 or 3 hours on
it. I learned how to hit as well. After a year and a half away from being at
Woodbine I came back and I started race riding in the fall. I won 4 races then
I stopped. As soon as you hit your 5th win your bug starts so I stopped for
the winter and went away to the US again. I trained some more and came back
and hit my 5th win and kept going from there.
FOTH: Tell us what you can remember about your first race.
CS: It was here at Woodbine on a horse called "Call
Me Annie" and it was for Joe Walls. The horse finished dead last. I can't believe
at the time I was even in a race or even at the track. The race went pretty
fast. I thought there would be a lot more noise, but actually there was none
at all. You could hear all the jockey's all around you. It was something really
neat.
FOTH: Tell us about your first win.
CS: That was for Stanley (could not get his last name-Chris)
and the horse’s name was "Silver Bounty." It was a horse that came off the pace
and the race was 7 furlongs. It was really cool.
FOTH: Did you get plastered with stuff after the race?
CS: Yeah they threw me in the silk barrel to race me
around the jock's room and they were gonna put black shoe polish on my butt,
but the clerk of scales would not let them.
FOTH: Is there any other tracks you have rode at besides Woodbine?
CS: I have rode at Fort Erie racetrack. It is about
2 hours north of here. I have a 29% win percentage there. I did really good,
but I don't ride much there. I mostly stay here at Woodbine. On Monday and Tuesdays
which are dark days here at Woodbine I go to Fort Erie to ride.
FORTH: Would you like to come to the US to ride someday?
CS: Yes that is one of my goals. I'd like to ride this
winter at Calder, then Gulfstream or NY. If not to ride much, I just want the
opportunity to learn. Ultimately I'd love to be in the US circuit like Julie
Krone. My thing right now is to ride one or two horses at Saratoga.
FOTH: Any other female riders you like or admire?
CS: I really like Rosemary Homeister Jr. a lot. I think
she is a really good jockey. I like Charleen Hunt. She is pretty good. Julie
Krone I did not watch ride that much. There is one girl here at Woodbine that
I like, her name is Lisa Platts. (formerly Lisa Dellipaoli) She is pretty cool.
Rosemary impresses me the most.
FOTH: Have you had any injuries so far?
CS: Not yet. Knock on wood.
FOTH: You seem to being doing really good up at Woodbine. Any problems getting
mounts? Are female riders accepted up in Canada?
CS: At first it was not. It was really tough. You get
the old timers saying they would never ride you. I find the biggest challenge
for women here at Woodbine is that you have a lot of trainers hit on you. They
give you the challenge of if I ride you, you date me kind of thing. You can't
let that happen even once cause it is not the way you want to get mounts and
I find harassment here pretty rampant. Probably since I have started doing well
the whole idea of me being a woman is completely non-existent. They are riding
me now cause I'm doing well and I'm really hot and they couldn't care less if
I am a woman. Some trainers think that is a tribute. But I know for other girls
here it is tough. I've been very fortunate and really blessed to being so well.
I'm a pretty intense person and I have a very serious side of me. I think people
take me seriously and there is some that don't. I find a lot of female riders
aren't intense or serious and it's the way they act around trainers and I find
it actually hurts their performance and chances. I don't really know how to
explain it. Men are more serious. I don't think trainers take women seriously
enough.
FOTH: The 2 Canada tracks have slots. Have you ever gone into that area?
CS: Yeah it is pretty cool.
FOTH: Ever plucked a quarter in one of them hoping to strike it rich?
CS: No. (laughs) I play that Casinorama, but I'm not
much of a gambler really.
FOTH: Ever been recognized off the track?
CS: Yeah, I usually don't go to the frontside, but
I got a lot of the gamblers that harass me constantly, but I'm being recognized
now which is pretty cool. I find that I have fans and that is pretty exciting.
I have little girls who come to the rail a lot. They gave me pictures and drawings.
It is really nice to see young girls coming out to the races and they always
pick me out and they know my name. I think that is great for young women cause
I think there should be more female jockeys. Every female jock that achieves
a goal just opens the door for another one.
FOTH: What advice would you give to a girl who wants to be a jockey?
CS: I would just say follow your dreams. There is one
female jockey who was exactly in the same boat I was in although she didn't
have an idea what to do so I told her to maybe go to this horse school and she
should take the money and go there or go to the states and get away from this
track and learn from other people and to come back. I think you need to go away
and develop and then come back. I think there are just better riders in the
states. Not so much race riders, but gallop people. I'm not putting down Woodbine,
but the jockeys in the states help more. The jockeys at Woodbine rarely help.
I don't think they are helpful in helping the young riders.
FOTH: What stuff do you do when you are away from the track?
CS: I love to go to the movies. I do yoga. I just love
sports. I used to play a lot of soccer. I like shopping, but not too much. (laughter)
That's pretty much it due to not so much free time.
FOTH: Take us through a typical day.
CS: I get up at 4:30am. I spend about an hour waking
up and then I go to the track and go to my barns from 6am till 10:30am. Then
I head over to the jock's room and get dressed for a run and go for a run on
the turf course and then I come back and get my thoughts in order and I'll check
out the dirt course to see where it is fast and where it is not. Then I go stretch
and get ready to ride. I review my program and I make my comments and then I
race all day. After racing I usually got home and go to bed or go out with friends
for dinner.
FOTH: Chantal thanks for the great interview. I am all out of questions. Any
last words?
CS: I feel really blessed to be doing what I am doing
and I feel really lucky. I love my job completely. There is nothing I rather
do. I love the people in it from the bottom to the top. Chris thanks for the
interview and for inviting me to be part of your guys’ website.