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Aamilah Aswat made history as the first black British female jockey to win a British horse race.
Aswat, who is also Britain’s first woman of South Asian descent to become a showjumping jockey, cleared the 2m 5ft hurdles at Kempton on Monday in her fourth professional ride.
The 20-year-old rode Guchen, trained by Kim Bailey and Mat Nicholls, to victory, leading the team to a 9-1 victory in the 11-horse field.
Of Jamaican and Indian descent, Aswat found growing up in Gloucester difficult because she would be the target of racial abuse, but she took up motorsport after a friend of her father gave her a ride.
Aswat leads Guchen to victory in her fourth professional ride
“First of all, I want to thank everyone who has supported me every step of the way and thank Kim, Matt and the owners for giving me this opportunity,” Aswat said.
“Words can’t express the feeling of getting this win so soon. I’m very happy and hopefully this is just the beginning for me and there will be many more wins to come in my career.”
Aswat’s first win came in the autumn of 2025 after receiving his jockey’s license.
She studied riding at St James City Farm and in 2021-22 joined the inaugural Riding Dream Academy Scholarship Scheme (sponsored by the Jockey Club), which supports young people from ethnically diverse communities to participate in horse racing.
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Aswat spoke to Sky Sports about her 2024 horse racing journey.
Naomi Lawson, co-founder of Dream Riding Academy, said: “We are incredibly proud of Amira.
“She has been an outstanding talent and we are delighted that all her hard work has paid off.
“It’s incredible that she made history today and became the first Riding Dream Academy student to win the competition, and we are so grateful to everyone who has supported her on her journey.”
