The addition of Dubbo sisters Kathy and Tracy O'Hara to the riding ranks has taken the total number of female hoops in the Central Districts and Western Racing Associations to four.

As well as the O'Hara sisters, Louise Ward and Forbes-based Leanne E Henry, there are the return visits of former champion Central Districts apprentice Robyn Freeman and Sydney-based Leanne G Henry.

The biggest race of the past Central Districts season, the $100,000 Dubbo Gold Cup, was also won by a female jockey, Sydney's Bernadette Cooper guiding Osca Warrior to victory for Gary Portelli.

It is not just among the riding ranks that the women are making an impact though, Parkes trainer Sharon Jeffries is enjoying her most successful season to date, Wellington's Karen McCarroll had a winner at Forbes on Saturday and Dubbo's Margaret Dare trained a winner at Wellington on Monday.

There are a host of other female trainers who are recording regular wins in the two associations and are making ever-increasing inroads into the traditionally male-dominated sport.

Dubbo-based jockey Louise Ward has been riding in the area for the past 18 years and is delighted to see more and more women joining the racing game.

"When I first started out we didn't even have a separate change room and there are still some centres around the central west that are in that predicament," Ward said.

"Racing for women has turned around a lot and we're seeing a lot more girls actually coming into the game and doing quite well.

"When I first started there was basically three of us outside the Sydney area: myself, Lorna Delaney and Lorraine Jackson, who is Robert Jackson's sister.

"When we're all in there together we don't talk too much about riding other than asking where someone has drawn, what they're riding and how many rides they've got.

"We don't talk too much about riding; we talk about more general information, just girl talk really and gossip."

While both Ward and Robyn Freeman recognise that they are considered as equals at the regional meetings, Freeman says the acceptance of female jockeys in Sydney is still lacking.

Having achieved all she could in the Central Districts, Freeman decided she had to test herself against the best in the city to see how good she could be but admits to coming up against gender bias quite often.

"It doesn't matter how many winners you've ridden, what horses you're riding or who you're riding for, it's still a male's game," Freeman said.

"When you win they say it's a great ride but if you come second or third they say you should have won when it was actually a great ride and the horse just wasn't good enough.

"The big one you get is that you're not strong enough or that, I don't know, they must think we're blonde or something.

"There is always someone there to give you a good kick in the guts, you're cantering on the spot, you can never take a step forward.

"It's so much harder, so much harder, yet here everyone treats you like an equal.

"You do have to work harder to get into it but once you're here, once you're in the country and going well there's no gender bias, they just say put her on because she's riding well."

As opposed to having to make any significant physical adjustments, Freeman says that riding in the city is all about preparation and knowing the particulars of certain trainers.

"You've just got to be up to date on your form straight up," she said.

"You've got to know the form of the horses you're riding, what trainers you're riding for and what they like.

"If Gai Waterhouse says to you that she wants it ridden off the pace, it means she wants it fourth, but if Bart Cummings says he wants it ridden off the pace he wants it dead last."