It was a finish for the history books.
On June 24, 2007, Emma-Jayne Wilson became the first female jockey to win the Queen's Plate, the longest continuously-run race in North America, and the oldest thoroughbred horse race in Canada.
Riding aboard 15-1 longshot 'Mike Fox' at Toronto's Woodbine Racetrack, the duo triumphed in the last stretch of the race.
"Out of nowhere I just knew we were flying and it was unbelievable," said Wilson, a Brampton, Ont. native who was 25 years old at the time, about the historic win.
Wilson began riding at nine-years-old, and started racing just three years before capturing the Queen's Plate.
"To get it in just my third year of riding and to make history in the sense of the first female rider, I'm excited 'cause now it's said and done," she said.
(Canadian Press/Frank Gunn)
She had already compiled more than 300 wins at various races before the historic win. It also wasn't the first time she made history. In 2006, she became the first woman to ever compete in the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup at Britain's Ascot Racecourse.
Wilson has won other prestigious honours such as the Eclipse Award Outstanding Apprentice Jockey and the Sovereign Award Outstanding Apprentice Jockey. According to her website, she was also inducted into the Brampton Sports Hall of Fame, and was also named one of the most influential women in sport by the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity.
(Canadian Press/Frank Gunn)
With files from CTV's Scott Laurie
