Janine Stianson has been riding horses since she was knee high to a grasshopper on her father's farm near Assiniboine, Saskatchewan.
Now 25, Stianson quieted any naysayers who may have questioned her mettle last Friday, when Assiniboia Downs kicked off its second 50 years of thoroughbred racing.
Janine Stianson stands with Cascadian Buck, who she rode to victory last Friday on opening night. Stianson rode four winners in the first four races.
Hidden away at Whoop-Up Downs in Lethbridge for the last five years, Stianson burst from the starting gate Friday to win the first four races of the season, and in the process, rode her way into the Downs record book.
"I have no doubt it is (a record)," said Downs director of operations Darren Dunn. "I spoke to lots of people on the backstretch, and no one can recall it ever happening before. On opening day? One win, two wins? Three wins maybe, but four? That's a record. I don't think any male jockeys have ever done it, let alone a woman. She certainly sent a message that she has the talent to compete."
"I knew Jared's (trainer Brown) horses were fit, but four wins in a row?" said Stianson, who won two more races that weekend and placed third three times. "I don't know how to explain it, except it was really fun."
All five wins came aboard horses trained by Brown, as well as one third. On Friday she won on Cascadian Buck, Valid Dreams, Gonestylin and Punchmeoutabuck. On Saturday Set Match won for her, and on Sunday Boldtoboot was her winner. She took thirds on Sharp Sue, Queeninbluejeans and Gold Spangles.
All this success comes as no surprise to Brown, who is responsible for Stianson showing up here. "I knew she could ride when I first saw her ride a quarter horse when she was 16," he said. "At Kamloops last spring she galloped some of my tougher horses, and she asked me if I thought she could make it and I said 'certainly.' I never had any doubts."
"I was pretty much born on a horse, and was involved in high school rodeo. I started racing horses when I was 15," Stianson said.
Her English teacher, Margie (Michael) Gibson, first saw Stianson's potential. "She noticed that whenever we could pick a topic for our projects, I always chose horse racing. One of her best friend's father raced quarter horses, so she introduced me to him and I rode a few races on the reserve track. When I was 16 I got licenced, but I kept riding quarter horses for the first few years. When I went Lethbridge, I started riding thoroughbreds."
In 2005, Stianson won the top rider in the Fall Meet at Lethbridge as well as the overall leading thoroughbred rider on the Community Circuit with 54 wins in 252 starts. Despite her success in Lethbridge, Stianson is still considered an apprentice jockey at the Downs.
She believes there's no better jockey school than that of hard knocks. "Basically I just got on as many horses as I could and I figured it out."
Her role models are Julie Krone, the first female jockey to win a Triple Crown race -- 1993 Belmont Stakes -- and Emma-Jayne Wilson, two-time Sovereign Award winner as Outstanding Canadian Apprentice Jockey.
She is not, however, making any feminist statements. "I have never found that being a female jockey has ever hurt me in any big way. It's never been an issue."
On the track, she gets her fair share of bumps, but nothing out of the ordinary. "The guys don't push me around. If they do, it's a two-way street. Girls can push too."
allan.besson@freepress.mb.ca
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