Meet the women trainers breaking new ground in racing

Candice Bass-Robinson has never hidden her ambitions under a bush. Her father is the celebrated Mike Bass and after serving a two-decade-long apprenticeship as an assistant trainer to her dad, she took out her own training licence in 2016.

Success came quickly, with Marinaresco’s win in the 2017 Durban July seeing her become the first female trainer in South Africa to land the country’s most prestigious race.

Since then, she has become entrenched as a leading light in the training ranks and her yard has swelled to over a hundred boxes.

For four successive seasons, the Milnerton conditioner, whose full-time assistant Mel Arnold also adds to the ‘girl power’ representation in the yard, has finished second on the provincial standings. In all four seasons, she has been pipped by champion trainer Justin Snaith.

Bass-Robinson, whose steely interior contradicts the softness she portrays on the outside, added another eight Graded wins to her CV in the 2023/24 season, with four Grade 1s – two of which came from the exported Beach Bomb and one with Charles Dickens, widely considered the best colt to be seen on South African racetracks for at least 20 years.

In fact, although Bass-Robinson has long paved her own route to success in this tough, male-dominated industry, it could be said that her last season was the best of her career. Stats often lie and while the 112 winners from her 2021/22 season remain a stable record, her last campaign, where she signed off with 81 winners, represented a step up in quality.

She amassed over R13 million in stakes and her winning percentage of 12.6 was higher than any other trainer who saddled more than 30 winners for the season.

Six of her Graded winners were owned and bred by Gaynor Rupert’s Drakenstein Stud, although Charles Dickens stands out as the jewel in the crown.

Lucinda Woodruff also hails from racing royalty. Her father, Geoff, was also a household name in the racing industry, a former national champion trainer and now back as assistant to his 30-year-old daughter.

Like Bass-Robinson, Woodruff is ambitious, although she is now only into her fourth year as a fully licensed trainer. Last season, she ended 13th on the Cape trainers’ log with 16 winners at a percentage of 11.4 and she has set her sights on breaking into the top ten.

Woodruff also comes off her best season to date, with Cafe Culture’s win late in the season being the first feature race success of her career. That post Merchants victory under the Hollywoodbets Greyville floodlights was the proverbial knock on the door on the national training landscape, saying, ‘I’ve arrived’.

She also feels that she’s set up for a big season. ‘I’ve got a lot of three-year-olds that I have high hopes for,’ she told Cape Racing. 

Then there’s Michelle Rix, daughter of Harold Crawford. Yet another product of racing royalty, she too has tasted Grade 1 success, with Kommetdieding’s storied career including wins in the Durban July and Cape Town Met. However, not every horse can be a Kommetdieding and she has been quietly boosting her stock and reputation by visiting the No. 1 box on nine occasions last season.

All of Bass-Robinson, Woodruff and Rix have had to step out of the footsteps of their famous fathers. However, they are now walking into the light all on their own and showing that they belong.

Belonging is an important word in sports, especially at the elite level, which is where these lady trainers are at. Most sports personalities will tell you that while they knew that they had the talent, desire and ability, it was only once they started emerging from the shadows themselves that they believed there was no limit to what heights they could reach.

So, when this leading trio talk about what they still want to accomplish, it’s best to pull your seat closer and listen more intently. In time to come, these three offspring from famous racing families will be household names all on their own. They will be the inspiration for more women to get involved in this industry, where there’s no place to hide.

They are the leaders of the next generation of female racing trainers. And with all three of them, we’re in for an exhilarating ride.

To see these amazing women in action, join Cape Racing at the races at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth and Hollywoodbets Durbanville. Entry is free!