Rubin, Barbara Jo
Horse Racing
b. Nov. 21, 1949, Highland, IL
The first U. S. woman jockey to win a flat race against male riders, Rubin took up horseback riding as exercise after being afflicted with polio when she was six years old.
She briefly attended Broward Junior College in Florida, but left in 1968 to pursue a career in thoroughbred racing. After working as an exercise rider, pony rider, and hot walker, she became an apprentice jockey at Tropical Park in 1969.
Rubin was scheduled to ride her first mount on January 15, but male jockeys threatened to boycott the race, so she was unceremoniously pulled from her ride. On February 22, she finally rode in her first race, at Charles Town, Virginia, and she won aboard Cohesion. She went on to win 10 more winners in 21 races, in the process becoming the first woman to ride in New York and New Jersey.
At 5-5, Rubin was tall for a jockey and she had trouble holding her weight. That problem, combined with torn knee ligaments, forced her retirement in 1970. In 89 races, she had 22 winners and was in the money 20 other times.