Racing the Boys

Book excerpt: Racing the Boys tells the incredible story of Granny McDonald, the first female to train a Melbourne cup winner, and her rise to the top of the horse-racing world. Feisty New Zealander, Hedwick Maher, has always been called ‘Granny’ – even as a child. Short, plump, bossy and old before her years, Granny grew up idolizing her horse trainer father in the stables and always dreamt of becoming a trainer in her own right. And she does, in her later years, becoming one of the first females to get a trainer’s license in New Zealand. Flash forward to 1938, 8-year-old thoroughbred Catalogue wins the Melbourne Cup, and Granny realizes that she has just become the first woman in history to train a Melbourne Cup Winner. However, the glory is not hers, but her husband who appears in the official records as Catalogue’s trainer. Despite all of Granny’s achievements, The Victorian Racing Club refuses to issue a training license to a woman. Racing the Boys is based on the incredible true story of Granny McDonald, an ordinary woman with an extraordinary passion for training thoroughbreds in her own, spirited way, during an era when racing was almost totally male dominated. Guaranteed to appeal to anyone who has ever struggled to own they credit they deserve and take their place at the top.