She was the first woman to be granted a race licence in New Zealand in 1977 and the first in Australasia to achieve four victories in a single day the following year.
She later became the first woman to ride a Derby winner in each of the Australasia, Europe, and North America continents and the first female to beat professional male entrants at an Australian-registered event.
[5] The application was rejected on the grounds of her being "too old, married and not strong enough";[6] they felt she would claim men's jockey's winnings and would not receive the appropriate dressing rooms.
[7] Jones and her husband were prepared to go to court,[6] and she led a campaign for improved equality within the racing industry, for which she received hate mail.
[4] The government of New Zealand later passed legislation in the form of the Human Rights Commission Act 1977 banning sexual discrimination.
[5] Jones later became the first woman to ride a winner over professional male entrants at an Australian-registered event when she rode Pay The Purple to a first-place finish at the 1979 Labour Day Cup at Brisbane in May 1979.
[8] In March 1980, she sustained a suspected broken pelvis, a fractured vertebrae atop her spine, sprained wrist and concussion in an accident while training at her husband's Cambridge establishment.