Meet Chantal Sutherland of Animal Planet’s Jockeys
Aug. 21 2009, Published 8:08 a.m. ET
Friday, August 21st is the second season premiere of Animal Planet’s surprise hit, the docu-drama Jockeys at 10pm. The show goes deep inside the intensely competitive and surprisingly drama fueled world of horse racing. One of the most compelling jockeys featured again this season is the gorgeous (she was on the 2006 list of People magazine’s Most Beautiful) and talented Chantal. Her biggest challenges have come from trying to find a balance between her demanding professional life and her personal one. Her boyfriend, Mike, a fellow jockey and Hall of Famer, hasn’t exactly made things easier for her. This season, their relationship is put to the test even more when Chantal decides to leave California and head home to race at Canada’s Woodbine track. Chantal fills us in on where her relationship with Mike stands today, how she deals with the wide ranging pressure and what she does with those rare moments she’s not racing!
Breaking Celebrity News ONLINE: We hear you left Los Angeles to race back home in Canada. Was that a tough decision to make?
Chantal: With racing, I love LA and I want to stay there, but I came back to Canada because the courses are so good here and there’s really great opportunity. In doing that, I had to leave Mike who I’ve been dating for four years, and that’s just a sad situation.
Breaking Celebrity News ONLINE: Are you guys still together even though you’re so far apart?
Chantal: Now that I’m in Canada now we’re sort of on the fence, kind of taking a break. I don’t really know what’s going on with us right now. But it’s hard too because we’re very competitive. Mike is in the Hall of Fame and has ridden for 25 years so he can tell me what I’ve done wrong, but if I ever suggest or ask him a question about what he did in a race, if I ever said in a voice that was not camaraderie—he would freak on me. He would be like, ‘Who are you to be telling me?’
Breaking Celebrity News ONLINE: It sounds like it’s hard to just let things roll off your back with someone you’re dating in such a competitive situation.
Chantal: I think with the first season, there was a lot of pressure because Animal Planet would bring up the issue, ‘Are you guys gonna get married? Are you getting engaged?’ And it’s a question I wanted to ask Mike myself. And now he’s on TV and he can’t run away. So, these are the issues that came up, and it was interesting to hear what he had to say. I kind of used the show to corner him, cause I wanted to know. And it’s funny cause when these questions are coming up, you sort of realize, ‘What are we doing?’ I got a lot of fan mail that said ‘Don’t have children yet, don’t get married.’ And then career women could relate. I would have to give up my career because it’s such a physical career if I have children. Mike’s older than me and he wants kids and he doesn’t want to get married unless I have kids.
Breaking Celebrity News ONLINE: So he’s asking you to pick between him and your career?
Chantal: And it’s not fair. I asked him, ‘If you had to pick between your career and me—what would you pick?’ And he’s like, ‘I’m not giving up my career.’ Then I’m like, ‘Okay, then I know where we stand.’ It’s not fair. There’s a double standard.
Breaking Celebrity News ONLINE: Do you think you guys will work things out?
Chantal: I don’t know. I’m just taking a break. I don’t know what we’re doing. I’m here in Canada and we haven’t seen each other since like April or May… He calls every day and wants to come visit and stuff, but I don’t know. We’re taking a little bit of a hiatus.
Breaking Celebrity News ONLINE: Talk a little bit about the competition with the other jockeys—especially since you’re one of the only females.
Chantal: I think my nature is competitive and the older I get the more I need to release that competitive nature, and that’s what racing does for me. With the boys, I’ve learned a lot from them. I’ve learned how to deal with a situation really quickly. You can get hot and get over it fast. Men are like that. Also, when you’re not seeking to date a guy or he’s not seeking to date me—men are then very open and they’re very cool, and you have great friendships. They’re not emotional at all, really. But when they get mad, they’re little tiger and lions and they come out quite aggressive. They’re not afraid to curse at you if they get mad, and that’s just the nature of the sport. Then they get over it quick so I’ve learned not to hold grudges. At the beginning, I was holding grudges with all of them because I thought they were all being so mean. But it’s okay. Now I’m like, ‘Whatever, get over it buddy.’
Breaking Celebrity News ONLINE: How did you get into horse racing?
Chantal: My dad is an owner of thoroughbreds. We always lived on a farm and horses have always been in our lives. I always wanted to be a professional athlete. I played field hockey and I raced downhill skiing. I’ve always been an adrenaline junky that way. When I was in college, I studied psychology and Mass Communication but it wasn’t really my passion. My passion was horses and it turns out I’m pretty short too.
Breaking Celebrity News ONLINE: Can you talk a little about the pressure jockeys—both male and female—face to maintain a certain weight?
Chantal: You stay fit. We don’t eat a lot. People look at what I eat and it’s a lot of cereal, and I love