Homeister enjoying Churchill Downs meet

After 181/2 years of riding and 2,395 victories, Rosemary Homeister Jr. still encounters trainers who say they can't use her because the horse owner doesn't want a female rider.

“Just tell 'em Homeister Jr. is riding their horse,” she tells them, “and I'll put hair in my helmet and they'll never know. I won't even wear eyeliner or lipstick when I come out.”

“They just start laughing,” Homeister said between races at Churchill Downs, where she is riding full-time for the first time. “They say, ‘Oh, I didn't even think of that.'

“Because you see ‘Jr.' you think male. I just try to make fun of it, and if I do meet owners that are like that, I just kill them with kindness.”