--- title: The Powder Puff Derby: Pictures From an All-Female-Jockey Horse Race in 1940 description: On the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Thoroughbred Racing Associations, LIFE offers a lighthearted look at racing back in the day, through the lens of a single race: the all-female "Powder Puff Derby." canonical: https://time.com/3871269/the-powder-puff-derby/ author: Ben Cosgrove article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2012-02-19T02:43:48.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:47:35.561Z og:title: The Powder Puff Derby: Pictures From an All-Female-Jockey Horse Race in 1940 og:description: On the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Thoroughbred Racing Associations, LIFE offers a lighthearted look at racing back in the day, through the lens of a single race: the all-female "Powder Puff Derby." og:url: https://time.com/3871269/the-powder-puff-derby/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt080bc0ff0fa12c4e/6988466f5f570f902bb1a750/04_005378161.jpg?branch=production&width=750&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 750 og:image:height: 422 og:image:alt: The Powder Puff Derby 1940 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Powder Puff Derby: Pictures From an All-Female-Jockey Horse Race in 1940 twitter:description: On the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Thoroughbred Racing Associations, LIFE offers a lighthearted look at racing back in the day, through the lens of a single race: the all-female "Powder Puff Derby." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt080bc0ff0fa12c4e/6988466f5f570f902bb1a750/04_005378161.jpg?branch=production&width=750&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # In Praise of the 'Powder Puff Derby' > Sponsored content. 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Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. by [Ben Cosgrove](https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Feb 19, 2012 2:43 AM UTC  Unpublished. Weighing in for the Powder Puff Derby, Agua Caliente Racetrack, Mexico, 1949. Unpublished. Weighing in for the Powder Puff Derby, Agua Caliente Racetrack, Mexico, 1949. Peter Stackpole—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images by [Ben Cosgrove](https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Feb 19, 2012 2:43 AM UTC “Sweet little Alice Van is as daredevilish a rider as ever came out of the Wild West,” LIFE informed its readers in the August 18, 1940, issue of the magazine. “Aboard a savage steer or proudly flaying a bucking bronco she has been the darling of hundreds of U.S. rodeos.” But in late July of that year,at Tijuana’s Agua Caliente racetrack, Van “achieved new fame. Wearing borrowed silks and a pair of borrowed jockey pants (two sizes too large), she mounted a cheap claiming horse named Drum Music and rode him to victory by a nose in a revival of Agua Caliente’s famous Powder Puff Derby. Behind her as also-rans struggled six other girl jockeys on six other old nags.” Today, at least some of the language used in that brief little feature in LIFE would be utter gibberish to the ears of the vast majority of readers. _Silks_? What silks? And what on earth is a “cheap claiming horse,” anyway? But in 1940, when thoroughbred horse racing was still an incredibly popular sport in the U.S., it’s a safe bet that many, and perhaps even most, of the magazine’s readers would know exactly what those seemingly arcane phrases meant. Here, on the 70th anniversary of the March, 1942 founding of the venerable Thoroughbred Racing Associations, LIFE.com offers a lighthearted look at racing back in the day, through the lens of a single race, the “Powder Puff Derby,” and half-a-dozen women jockeys, on a scorching summer afternoon at a track in Baja California, Mexico. Oh, and by the way: “Silks” are the racing outfits worn by jockeys, featuring colors and patterns associated with a horse’s stable or owners; a “claiming horse” is a horse that can be bought or “claimed” until shortly before a race. _Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter_ [_@lizabethronk_](https://twitter.com/LizabethRonk)_._  The caption that appeared with this image when it appeared in LIFE: "Weighing in before the race the girls are understandably nervous. Alice Van (third from left) is wondering whether Drum Music, the horse she will ride is any good. Because the girls generally refuse to diet and because they average about 10 lbs. more than men jockeys, their races are usually scheduled at the high weight of 130 lbs." Peter Stackpole—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Unpublished. Women jockeys in Baja California, Mexico, 1940. Peter Stackpole—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  The caption that appeared with this image when it appeared in LIFE: "From balcony of jockeys' quarters the girls and two regular jockeys watch an early program race. Most of the girls are rodeo performers, enter for the fun of it." Peter Stackpole—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Unpublished. Weighing in for the Powder Puff Derby, Agua Caliente Racetrack, Mexico, 1949. Peter Stackpole—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  The caption that appeared with this image when it appeared in LIFE: "Scales read 119 as Alice steps on them as jockey Martin Fallon, smoking a big cigar, leers up at her. She is a former Cheyenne 'Frontier Days' champion rider." Peter Stackpole—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Unpublished. Alice Van and her husband/manager place bets at the track in Baja California, Mexico, 1940. Peter Stackpole—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Unpublished. Women jockeys in Baja California, Mexico, 1940. Peter Stackpole—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  The (oddly worded) caption that appeared with this image when it appeared in LIFE: "Across finish a winner comes Alice's horse, Drum Music. Third is Babe de Freest, last year's winner. At Agua Caliente track, two races for girls are held ever year." Peter Stackpole—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  The caption that appeared with this image when it appeared in LIFE: "After race Alice poses for picture with Drum Music and Drum Music's owner Tom Hunt, a horseman from San Ysidro, California. Hunt won $500\. Alice won a wrist watch." 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