Emerald Downs icon Connie Doll reaches 50th year of racing

Published 10:52 am Tuesday, August 11, 2026

Connie Doll is the epitome of the saying “Been there, done that.”

The 67-year old gallop girl is in the midst of her 50th season in professional horse racing and has just as much of an impact now as the day she started it all. Doll has been a mainstay in the Emerald Downs community in Auburn for over 20 years, leaving her mark everywhere she goes even following a knee injury that sidelined her for one year in 2024.

“I’ve been around it my whole life, I would always say I was born with a whip in my hand,” Doll said in an Aug. 6 phone interview.

Her energy is infectious and through one conversation, it’s easy to see how she has made an impact on so many lives in and around the world of horse racing in the Pacific Northwest.

Currently she is pursuing another passion of hers, this time off of the track, The Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund. The PDJF raises money to help jockeys that have been seriously injured by riding horses and helps pay for medical care among other things.

“I have four friends that are paralyzed from racing, they are good friends of mine. I think a lot of people forget them. They love them when they are riding and they get hurt and they forget them. I try to let them know that they are remembered,” Doll said.

There will be a charity auction on Aug. 15 for the PDJF, the day before the Longacres Miles, the biggest race of the year at the track. There will be an assortment of horse racing memorabilia that has been collected and set up by Doll. One of which is a one-of-a-kind painting from Jenny Harding. She hopes that she will get people to the track that want some of the memorabilia.

Doll won her first race in Canada at the age of 14 before becoming licensed in the U.S. at the age of 16.

Doll has seen the racing game change immensely over her career, a trailblazer in her own right, she has been through the ringer to help women become and stay professional jockeys. When she began her career back in 1976, there were just a couple female jockeys riding and it wasn’t smooth riding either.

“At some of the places there were two or three of us, but the guys wanted to kill us. They did not want women riding,” Doll said. “You just had to avoid it, then they said you will fit in fine. Most of them are my best friends now.”

But due to her effort and relentless attitude, Doll has opened the door for so many other female jockeys. At Emerald Downs, there are five female jockeys who have raced this season with the youngest Addson Pifer at just 19-years old.

“I love it cause people love riding with girls now. It’s been one of the big turnovers in events for women, but a lot of us had to fight really hard for it,” Doll said.

Doll hasn’t found a mount a whole lot recently, following an injury a few years ago but still finds a way to get out of bed and go to work everyday. As a gallop girl for Rosie Simkins, Doll’s role is of high importance in terms of the racing strategy.

“I get on the horses in the morning and she (Simkins) tells me what to do with them,” Doll said “I am their main gallop person.”

She works as a key figure, managing relationships with the owner, trainer and the horse itself. Whenever the track opens for training, in coordination with the horse trainer Doll gets on the horse and practice begins.

“We are the ones who get them ready to go to a race, if they have issues we have to fix the mental problems. We have to be psychologists and psychiatrists sometimes to get them over the problems and get them to a race,” Doll said.

Horses have been a passion for Doll, born in Enumclaw, for as long as she can remember. Her father took her to the track and to various farms at a very young age. From that moment forward, she was always around horses and trying to get onto the track as much as possible. She grew up in Ravensdale and still continues to live in the town she called home as a young girl.

“My dad always threw me on the horse and said ‘you just hang on.’ Then off we’d go, it didn’t matter if they bucked or not, he kept me safe,” Doll said.

One of the more memorable times for Doll was when she was heading for a mount and the trainer saw her walking up but they were expecting someone different, her cousin Kenny Doll Jr.

“I was struggling to get mounts and was riding the bottom of the barrel. I got named on this horse I didn’t know and got in the paddock and the guy goes ‘You’re not Kenny Doll.’ I said I was his cousin and he goes ‘Oh well, the names gotta be good,” Doll said.

She lived up to the name and won the race.

“Every win is like the first one. I love the feeling of winning a race. Especially when they run better than they should have, if you get on a long shot and it runs second. That feels like winning a race, I am competitive I guess,” Doll said.

That fire and passion is evident in everything Doll does, it’s no wonder she has spent half a century around the track.