Student Khadijah Mellah has become the first person to compete in a UK horse racing event while wearing a hijab, taking home the prized Magnolia Cup minutes later.
The 18-year-old, who only started racing in April this year, shocked spectators by beating well-known names such as champion cyclist Victoria Pendleton, model Vogue Williams and Australian Victoria Racing Club Ambassador Georgia Connolly during her debut race in the women's only amateur event on Friday.
"Ambitious women can make it and that is what I want to represent," Mellah said after her shock win.
British Jockey Khadijah Mellah cuddles her horse Haverland after winning the all-female Magnolia Cup. Source: AAP
"I’ve had so much support and I can’t wait to see other stories of other women doing the same and getting into the industry.”
The 18-year-old said there were "no words to describe" the feeling of winning.
"I can't believe it to be fair," she said.
A day before her historic victory, the aspiring mechanical engineer told the she was inspired by the Duchess of Sussex and the Great British Bake Off’s Nadiya Hussain.
Khadijah Mellah has become the first British jockey to compete wearing a hijab. Source: Press Association
"She has managed to make history in the Royal family,” Mellah said of the former actor.
“But I actively see people hating that the Royal family has a woman colour - this should be something that we encourage. It should not be a negative thing."
The Magnolia Cup is a charity race event aimed at raising money for Wellbeing of Women, the UK's leading women's reproductive and gynaecological health charity.
