Anna Lee Aldred

Who was Anna Lee Aldred?

Anna Lee Aldred was the first woman in the United States to receive a jockey's license.

She was born Anna Lee Mills in Montrose, Colorado in 1921. She is the daughter of a famous race horse trainer. She began racing ponies at the age of 3. By the age of 12 she was racing flat,relay races. After officials at Agua Caliente Racetrack in Mexico were unable to find a rule that would bar women jockeys, she was given a license at age 18 in 1939. She lost her first professional race by a nose, but went on to win many races in state and country fairs. Six years later, having grown too tall at 5'5" and weighing in at 118 pounds, she retired from horse-racing and began a second career as a trick rider in rodeos. She married cattleman Wayne Aldred; that marriage later ended in divorce. Aldred was inducted into the Cowgirl Hall of Fame in Fort Worth, Texas in 1983 and the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 2004. She continued riding until breaking her hip in 2001 and died in June 2006 in Montrose at the age of 85.