Aintree hero Blackmore ‘blown away’ by response to retirement call

TOPSHOT – Rachael Blackmore rides Minella Times to win the Grand National at Aintree in April 2021. (Photo by SCOTT HEPPELL / POOL / AFP)

Rachael Blackmore, the only female rider to win the Grand National at Aintree, has announced her retirement from race racing.

Blackmore made history in 2021 when steering Minella Times home in front at Aintree for trainer Henry De Bromhead and owner JP McManus.

Her Grand National success made headlines around the world and now, aged 35, Blackmore has called time on her career in the saddle.

Blackmore says ‘it felt like the right time’ to take her leave from race riding and says she has been ‘blown away’ by the response to her announcement.

‘Lucky’ to have enjoyed the major moments

Despite her incredible talents in the saddle, Blackmore suggested on her retirement that she felt lucky to have enjoyed the incredible success story that was her career.

Prior to her Grand National triumph, Blackmore had already become the first female jockey to win the Champion Hurdle aboard Honeysuckle, that same incredible spring of 2021 when she won six races at Cheltenham and was crowned leading rider – another landmark.

In 2022, she secured another first when steering A Plus Tard to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup – one of 18 Festival winners she would ride at the Prestbury Park course.

This year, Blackmore won the Stayers’ Hurdle on Bob Olinger, completing the set of Cheltenham’s crown jewels.

She is joint-eighth on the list of all-time successful jockeys at the Cheltenham Festival.

“I just feel so lucky, to have been legged up on the horses I have, and to have experienced success I never even dreamt could be possible,” she said.

“To have been in the right place at the right time with the right people, and to have gotten on the right horses – because it doesn’t matter how good you are without them.

“They have given me the best days of my life and to them I am most grateful.”

Storybook career from humble beginnings

The daughter of a dairy farmer and a school teacher, Blackmore rode ponies as a child near her home in Killenaule, County Tipperary.

She had once hoped to become a vet, gaining a degree in equine science and combining her studies with riding as an amateur.

She rode her first winner as an amateur in February 2011, but didn’t turn pro until 2015, with some questioning the decision to become Ireland’s first professional female rider in a generation.

Blackmore brought the curtain down by riding Ma Belle Etoile to victory at Cork – the 575th winner of her 4,566-race career as a professional jockey.

‘Blown away’ by response

Blackmore gave an extensive interview to Ruby Walsh and Damien O’Meara on RTE’s Game On as she reflected on her career.

She said she has been stunned by the outpouring since she announced the decision to retire.

“I’m so blown away by the response. Obviously, I knew it would be a news story in some shape. The amount of coverage in the newspapers,” she said.

“The amount of people that have written to me and rang me and sent me messages. People that you might pass and you know them but you don’t have their numbers. But they’ve gone out of their way to get my number and send me a message. I’m just so blown away by that.”

De Bromhead alliance the game changer

Blackmore suggests she has no immediate plans for the future, admitting she is just pleased to retire on her own terms feeling physically fit and with no lasting injuries.

She will take time to consider her options for the future in the coming weeks but reflects on the link-up with De Bromhead that proved the game changer in her career.

“I was very lucky when I got linked up with Henry De Bromhead. He had a serious yard of horses,” she said.

“It just elevated my career to a whole new level. You need to get the bounce of the ball essentially and I feel like I got that.

“There’s so many good riders in the weighing room and there’s only a certain amount of races in a day. There can only be seven jockeys or whatever ride a winner in a day. You have to be getting on the right horses to achieve these things.”