‘It was worth all the abuse’ - meet the jockey who overcame bullying and misogyny to make racing history

Sitting at the back of a Notting Hill cafe drinking lattes with her 96-year-old father, Karen Wiltshire is fittingly inconspicuous given her story is one known to very few even within racing circles, let alone outside it. Yet here is a woman who achieved something truly remarkable.

In 1978, Wiltshire became the first female professional jockey to ride a winner on the Flat in Britain. Her groundbreaking story has gone largely untold, but now, with the help of sportswriter Nick Townsend, she has taken matters into her own hands to recount a journey that history threatened to forget. Her recently published book 'No Place For A Girl' certainly packs a punch.

Stepping foot inside a male-dominated world meant she faced outrageous misogyny, prejudice and bullying, yet Wiltshire refused to yield and ultimately proved she was just as talented as her male counterparts in the saddle with her historic success.