Jon Walpole

Candace,



I have long supported women's racing, but I don't support

your petition (a) because I think it is based on some false

assumtions, and (b) because I think it imposes unnecessary

restrictions on race promoters. Regarding the false assumptions

part, the current situation is that all races are open to

women. Hence women already have an equal racing opportunity.

There are some races that are closed to men (women's races),

but none that are closed to women. Furthermore, women have the

option to ride their category or ride one category below in an

open race. These existing rules mean that women currently have

far greater racing opportunities than men.



It is true that prize money varies from one event to another

and from one category to another, but your current petition

doesn't require equal prize money, and in any case, I don't

think prize money is, or should be, a significant issue in any

of the racing at the OBRA level.



Regarding the restrictions on race promoters, this is a small

sport in grave danger of going extinct due to lack of race

promoters. These people are volunteers contributing their own

time and money to make our sport happen. If someone wants to

promote a race for a single category, whatever that might be,

we should encourage and thank them. If they want to expand the

number of categories thats all well and good, but please, lets

support the people who make the sport happen rather than subject

them to restrictive legislation.



Finally, the best thing for women to do if they want to encourage

race promoters to put on more women's only races with larger prize

lists etc, is to turn up at the races. There are a lot of women's

races on the calendar right now. If promoters saw large field sizes

I'm sure many would supply races to match the demand. There is no

barrier to this course of action, so lets see the big fields.



-- Jon