A female Standardbred breeder who was recently inducted into a Hall of Fame has said that, decades ago, a lot of the ‘old men’ that were running the industry didn’t like it when females came in and started making names for themselves.
The female breeder in question is Patti Gira, who was inducted into the Michigan Harness Horsemen’s Hall of Fame in late January.
Gira broke into the industry in the mid-1980s and along with her husband purchased Oldfield Farm Inc. from her parents in 1985. According to an article by the Toledo Blade, Gira said that is when “the business took off.”
The article explains that at the height of the farm’s business, the breeding operation was home to roughly 300 horses and grossed about $1 million a year.
“If anything, we made it a little easier for another woman to come in and start up a farm and be successful at it,” Gira said. “It was all run by old men. A lot of them didn’t like it when us women came in and started making names for ourselves in Michigan racing.”
(With files from the Toledo Blade)