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Year Inducted: 2004
Home State: KS
Wantha Davis loved to race horses – and to win. From the Great Depression through the 1950s, Wantha won more than 1,000 races, mostly competing against male jockeys. At the time she was referred to by many major sports writers as one of the finest jockeys in the country.
Wantha rode primarily at quarter horse meets, county fairs and small bush tracks in the West and Midwest. In those days women were not allowed to compete at major tracks, but she was the first woman to compete at a pari-mutuel track. Throughout her career Wantha applied for a jockey’s license, but was turned away by most state racing commissions. It would be another 20 years before women were allowed to race on major US tracks.
Yet Wantha won a historic race in 1949 at the Aqua Caliente track in Tijuana, Mexico. She competed in an exhibition match against Racing Hall of Fame jockey Johnny Longden, the top male jockey of the time with three national championships to his name.
Organizers of the race offered Wantha a 5-pound weight advantage simply because she was a woman, but Wantha refused. She preferred to compete on equal terms with the world’s most successful rider. She beat Longden out of the gate, and he could never quite catch up. Wantha won by 1 3/4 lengths.
“I wasn’t scared,” said Wantha. “When you’re on a horse, you don’t have time to think about your nerves.”
Four months later Wantha beat Racing Hall of Fame jockey Jackie Westrope at the same Tijuana track, securing her reputation as an outstanding jockey – male or female. At the time a San Diego reporter commented that “…even the most calloused skeptics … are acknowledging she has what it takes.”
Wantha was one of the first jockeys to use many of the sophisticated riding techniques now widely favored by some of the world’s best jockeys. Referred to as a “hand rider,” Wantha rode with a whip but preferred gentle coaxing -- whispering to the horse in its ear and only shaking the stick if she needed an extra kick.
“She had the unique gift of recognizing the strengths and weaknesses of horses and was able to use this knowledge to win races,” said her son, Dr. Tad Davis.
At 39, Wantha headed for her family’s 850-acre ranch, breaking colts and raising cattle. When her husband died, Wantha remained on the ranch alone, venturing out even in winter to chop ice for the cattle or deliver a calfWantha never set out to fight for women’s rights; she just wanted to compete at the big tracks. A true pioneer of horse racing, she paved the way for female jockeys of today.
For more information visit girljockey.com.
