Linda Jones might have nudged the door open for women riders in the sport of kings, but now female jockeys and trainers are firmly ensconced in the stables and racetracks of thoroughbred racing.
But it hasn't always been a case of walking through the gates and hopping on a horse for the fairer sex, as the female pioneers had to fight prejudice and misconception as they paved their way in a sport which had always been dominated by males.
As far back as 1938, ''Granny'' McDonald was for all intents and purposes the trainer of Melbourne Cup winner Catalogue but, as Australia did not allow female trainers, her husband, Allan, was recorded as the winning trainer.
It took another 63 years before another New Zealander, Sheila Laxon, became the first officially recognised Melbourne Cup-winning trainer when she prepared Ethereal to complete the Caulfield Cup-Melbourne Cup double in 2001.
The landscape of racing has changed has come a long way since Jones and other aspiring women jockeys agitated for change in the mid-1970s and the authorities finally relented and allowed women to ride in 1977.
In October this year, all nine jockeys in one race at Wingatui were female and, while this might be an outlier on the standardised curve, the presence of female riders on the modern scene is undeniable.
Of the 156 jockeys available for riding duties in New Zealand this month, 60 are women while the likes of Moira Murdoch, Karen Parsons, Linda Laing and Davina Waddell have carved out their places in the training ranks.
Across the Tasman, Gai Waterhouse is the face of thoroughbred racing to many casual followers of the code, her exuberant personality pushing her into the nation's consciousness.
East Taieri trainer Marion Stevenson has noticed plenty of changes over the past 50 years, and all of them for the better from the perspective of a woman in racing.
Stevenson was in the minority in the 1960s and 1970s as a female owner-trainer and, as a trainer of jumpers, she discovered not all the obstacles were on the turf either in the earlier days.
''It was difficult. I didn't think so at the time but when I look back, I think how difficult it was really,'' she said.
''The older trainers didn't want to know you really and wondered why you were there.
"When I went to Wellington, women weren't allowed in a certain part of the stand no matter whether you trained them, owned them or not. It was the same at Riccarton.''
Stevenson noticed attitudes started to change when the bid to allow female jockeys was successful.
''Once female jockeys came in, that's when it relaxed. There began to be one or two women trainers about too. Nobody even blinks now.''
Women jockeys can bring a different style of riding, which suits some horses more than others.
''They've got other attributes which horses often appreciate, and sometimes the horses run better for female jockeys than a male jockey.''
Lisa Cropp was the first female rider to reach the top of the sport, winning the jockeys' premiership in three consecutive years and winning a then-record 197 races in 2004-05 as she began her three-year run.
She was joined as a premiership winner two seasons ago by Lisa Allpress, who now rides in Singapore.
But the ceiling remains in other areas of the industry.
The New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing Board is all-male, although Liz Dawson was a recent board member.
Just one woman, Ailsa Smaill, is on the board of Harness Racing New Zealand.
Club presidents are an exception rather than a rule, although the Otago Racing Club is a leader in that regard, both Stevenson and Leanne Richards holding the presidency in recent years.