"GRANNY" McDonald was a trailblazer in the male dominated world of horse racing. Her career reached its climax with Catalogue, a little-known eight-year-old gelding, winning the 1938 Melbourne Cup.
But her name - Hedwick "Granny" McDonald - does not appear in official record books. Instead, the feat was credited to her husband, as back then the Victoria Racing Club did not issue trainer's licences to women.
In Racing the Boys, Jacqueline Dinan brings Granny's story to life for the first time.
Granny was a trailblazer in a broader sense well before Catalogue's victory.
By 1924 she was a leading showjumper and the first woman in New Zealand to be granted a professional training licence.
Over the following decade and a half she became one of the Dominion's leading trainers of thoroughbreds, sprinters, stayers and jumpers.
- Racing the Boys by Jacqueline Dinan, Impact Press, RRP $29.95.
