Product Description

This autobiography of Jenny Pitman describes how she became successful in the male-dominated profession of horse racing. Pitman was one of the first women to be granted a professional licence to train horses and in 1983 she became the first female trainer to win the Grand National.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #37764 in Books
• Published on: 1999-11-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 414 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
To use modern parlance, Jenny Pitman OBE faced a double whammy when she applied for her trainer's licence. First, she was an outsider to the world of racing; second, and more importantly, she was a woman in what was still very much a man's world. As she tells us in her frank and entertaining autobiography, simply titled Jenny Pitman, she overcame the first problem much easier than beating the second.

Known throughout the equine world as the first woman of racing, Mrs Pitman--now Mrs Stait after marrying her long-time partner David Stait in early 1998--is still having to bang her head against the brick wall that is sex discrimination. She tells how, after entering a fitness regime at theb eginning of 1998 and looking and feeling better than she had for years, a male colleague asked whether or not her sex life had improved as she appeared so fit and healthy!

But racing has been Jenny Pitman's life and the book is a no-holds barred account of a truly remarkable career. After telling of her happy childhood as the middle child of seven spent on a Leicestershire farm run by her parents, she describes the happiness she felt at her teenage marriage to jockey Richard Pitman. That joy was to turn to tears 10 years later when her first husband, and father of Jenny's two boys Mark and Paul, twice walked out on her. However, the outwardly tough-as-teak Jenny gritted her teeth and got on with the job of training racehorses.

Jenny has achieved success in the world's toughest races and she fully describes the joy and heartbreak of landing two (it should have been three but Esha Ness's success came in the 1993 void race) Grand Nationals. Then there were the other Grand Nationals, the Scottish, Welsh and finally to complete the set, Irish versions of the event. In 1984 she became the only woman to train a Cheltenham Gold Cup winner and followed that up when the same horse, Burrough Hill Lad, became the first trained by a woman to land the coveted Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup. That was a record which stood until Venetia Williams took 1998's running.

It is a frank book which covers and fully explains her run-ins with officialdom, press and even jockeys. The lead-up to her spat with Jamie Osborne is fully explained, as are the reasons behind her famous letter to Aintree officials over the state of the ground at 1998's Grand National. All in all, an enjoyable and informative read in which Mrs Pitman, as usual, pulls no punches.

From the Publisher
The racing industry’s leading lady tells her amazing life story.

About the Author
Jenny Pitman lives in Lambourn, Berkshire with her husband David Stait. Known as one of the all-time greats of the racing world, she now writes novels and feature articles, and makes regular television appearances.

Customer Reviews

Pulls no punches
As one would expect from a tough nut like Jenny Pitman, her autobiography does not skirt around the difficult parts of her life: her first marriage to jump jockey (now broadcaster), Richard Pitman; her application to become one of the first female trainers to be recognised as such (previously women had to use their husband's names); the ups and downs of a trainer's life; and the cancer which nearly claimed her life.

All through it, the main quality she displays is what some would called a focussed attitude, others would call stubbornness. Although I feel she labours the point somewhat, it is fair to say that were she, say, Martin Pipe (champion jumps trainer for most of the past decade) or any other successful male trainer, nobody would ever have called her stubborn.

However, what also comes across is someone who passionately loves horses. Perhaps it is due to Thelwell's cartoons that we in Britain have such a clichéd idea of the little girl in love with her pony, but people whose lives revolve around equestrian sports do genuinely lavish extraordinary amounts of love and attention on their charges, bordering on obsession. Jenny Pitman successfully puts this across.

Two criticisms: Jenny has so often talked of her love of horses that she can sometimes come across as holier than all other trainers. All trainers, in my experience as a race-goer, whilst wanting to win and recognising that racehorses are bred to race, want their horses back in one piece. It is fashionable to knock any pursuit that involves animals so obviously stretching themselves to the limit (usually by people whose only experience of horses is catching sight of the odd police horse), but nobody should delude themselves that grown men and women do not feel the pain of loss when a horse dies, particularly on the race track. If anything, Jenny Pitman's moments of loss have perhaps been so painful as to render her almost incapable of fully expressing how awful it is.

The other criticism would be of the opening chapters exploring her childhood. She does not actually use the words "We were poor but happy", but the general drift is there. It is all rather 'Darling Buds Of May', which is sad because it is obvious that so much of her common sense and knowledge of horses was passed down from her grandfather and father. It is also clear that her parents never stood in her way. I have long held the theory that the people who most obstruct talented young women are usually their parents, chipping away at their confidence. It is a fitting tribute to both Jenny Pitman's parents that they were always there for her (even if they did manage to leave her kid sister behind at the family home as everyone else went off to Jenny's wedding!).

In style, the book tends to jump from one incident to another, sometimes with little warning, such that it only vaguely gives an idea of the cyclical, seasonal nature of horse training. The text could probably have done with some more ruthless editing or perhaps even a literary collaborator, but then that would have involved a deal of compromise, which really isn't Jenny's style. Which is why we racing fans like her!

Entertaining insight from Jenny's perspective
I read this book with an open mind, and found it very entertaining and a good read. I feel that some of the incidents recounted in the book are not necessarily "how it happened" accounts, but are really "how Jenny would like us to believe it happened" accounts. As Jenny is the author, that is her prerogative! That said, I enjoyed the book and can recommend it to anyone with an interest in racing.

If you enjoy Horseracing then read on.
Just finished reading this book last week and is well worth a read. Found it very interesting and read it in 3 days which is very good for me as I tend to switch off from books sometimes. Don't want to reveal anything and spoil your read but I have a different opinion after reading it and she reveals some interesting reasons for some of the things you want to know about. One thing I will say is she started from the bottom and worked her way up to the top and I admire her for it. Some of the race commentries on her big wins are worth reading alone as she tells the truth about how she feels during the Highs and the Lows.

Well done Jenny