Around this time last year, Chantal Sutherland was riding in Kentucky, struggling to get mounts and win races and she was miserable. She won just 11 races in 2020, the worst year of her career. Worse still, she didn’t have many answers.
“I’m just not in a good place,” she said. “I was really struggling there. I can’t believe how no one can give me a shot. I thought, ‘what is my next move, what will happen?’ I prayed about it. I thought “is it time to do something else?”
One thing she knew was she had to move on and try somewhere else. A year later and after moving to Gulfstream, 45-year-old Sutherland is making a remarkable comeback. With 29 wins, she finished second in the Gulfstream rankings at the recent closing meeting and will advance to the Championship Meet opening match on Friday.
Her 75 wins for the year is her most since 2010. She has 15% of the year winners, her best percentage since 2002.
“I can’t even tell you how grateful and happy I am for this opportunity,” she said. “That’s why I’m taking advantage of every minute to do my best, do my best and be there for the people who support me. I’m so grateful. ”
After she won 152 races with earnings of $8,778,038 in 2010, Sutherland struggled to maintain those numbers. She won 32 races in 2014 before retiring briefly to focus on starting a family.
“I am married and I want to try to have children,” she said. “I’m not married anymore and I don’t have kids, so that’s how it went.”
She returned in 2016, but has struggled to establish any momentum. Deciding to try Kentucky only made things worse.
“I feel that in Kentucky, they didn’t give me a fair chance,” she said. “I’m not sure exactly why, but I think it’s still an ‘old boys club’ there.”
After sitting out the first few months of 2020, she started riding at Gulfstream in April and discovered early on that things were going to be different. Before long, she was riding three or four horses a day, which she may not have been able to do in Kentucky in a week’s time.
“I feel more comfortable and happier here,” she said. “You have a lot of Latin American coaches, Jamaican coaches, Bajans, Americans. It’s a melting furnace here so there’s not much discrimination against a minority group of women. People here seem to be more open-minded and I have a great agent at Jay Rushing. ”
Part of Sutherland’s problem has always been that she just doesn’t seem to focus on her equestrian career. An aspiring model, she published 4 pages in Vogue and in 2004 she appeared in a television commercial for Esquire watches. In addition, she was also selected as one of the “100 most beautiful people” by People magazine. She was one of the jockeys to appear on the reality TV show Jockeys on Animal Planet and appeared in five episodes of the HBO series “Luck”.
It’s all part of her past. She has no relationships and no outside projects.
“I can really focus on myself for once in my life,” she says. “I am not in any kind of relationship. I can focus on myself, the horses and the trainer I ride, and fully motivated to be the best. Whoever supports me and makes me part of their team, I will give 150% for me to win for my team. Hard work is paying off. This is my passion. I love horse racing. It is everything to me and it makes me happy. It was a wonderful time in my life. I just focus on myself and my career. I wish I had done that when I was young.”
For Sutherland, things are about to get a whole lot tougher as a massive influx of top riders head to Gulfstream for the Championship Encounter. She looks forward to the challenge.
“I’ve played against the best in the world,” she said. “I look forward to seeing how we all measure up. I look forward to facing some of the best world-class riders. It will be different. They share the same determination, competitive drive and work ethic that I have. It will be fun and it will be a challenge. ”
It started again on Friday and she was named on six horses. She is looking forward to it.
“I fit in here,” she said. “I feel happy here.”
