HAVING penned an editorial last week about the growing influence of women in racing, it was great to see Lucinda Russell saddle the winner of this year’s Randox Health Grand National. This followed Thursday’s great win for Lizzie Kelly on board Tea For Two.

Katie Walsh was in the news, showing steely reserve to get back in the saddle for the Grand National after a bruising fall on Thursday. Katie is one of four ambassadors for the Grand National, joining classical singer Laura Wright, 2016 Olympic gold medal winning hockey player Sam Quek MBE and jockey – and sole male representative – Sam Twiston-Davies.

Katie is one of the finest female jockeys and has the distinction of being the best placed female rider in Aintree Grand National history, riding Seabass to third place in 2012. Three years later she became the third woman to win the Irish Grand National as a jockey when guiding the Sandra Hughes-trained Thunder And Roses to victory at Fairyhouse.

On Friday she hosted a course walk for delegates attending the Grand Women’s Summit. The event celebrates women in horseracing, sport and business and appropriately is held at Aintree where the racecourse chairman is Rose Paterson.

The event was hosted by BBC Breakfast’s Sally Nugent and the panellists were the omnipresent Sam Quek, Dame Sarah Storey (British road and track racing cyclist, former swimmer, multiple gold medal winner at the Paralympic Games in both sports, and three times British (able-bodied) national track champion), sponsor JLT’s Ellie Mickleburgh and ITV Racing’s Alice Plunkett.

The panel discussed the challenges faced by working mothers, including how to balance careers and home life. Alice Plunkett said: “Women have never been more aspirational and, now more than ever before, we have the option to work and have families. But we can’t be afraid to ask for help; we all need support.”