Blackmore drinks it all in aboard Guinness
RACING royalty genuflected at the throne of Rachael Blackmore, the queen of Cheltenham.
Since her breakthrough win at jump racing’s most prestigious Festival in 2019, Blackmore hasn’t just raised the bar for women in sport — she’s smashed through the ceiling.
Success on Captain Guinness in the Champion Chase, a race named after Britain’s late and beloved Queen Mother, a great racing supporter, earned Blackmore congratulations from Princess Anne and Queen Camilla, among many others.
That was something Blackmore could never have envisaged in her days on the pony circuit as a teenager.
But she moves in exalted circles now, a 16-time winner at the Festival, 14 of those coming in the elite Grade Ones, with the Champion Chase added to Tuesday’s Supreme Novices’ Hurdle heroics.
Tenth in the all-time jockey’s list at Cheltenham, she is one winner from joining legends Fred Winter and Charlie Swan.
Blackmore is a legend too, if self-effacing and thoroughly decent. Others are acutely aware of what she stands for.
Katie Walsh, who rode three winners at the Festival as an amateur, stepped aside in May 2018 as Blackmore was establishing herself among the pro ranks.
Walsh appreciates how far Blackmore has come. ‘She’s the perfect role model. She’s a great woman and someone that everyone can look up to,’ she said.
‘What she has won is incredible and she rarely makes a mistake or takes the wrong decision during a race.
‘She’s always exactly where she should be and always in the firing line. I love watching her and who knows what else she might achieve in her career.’
Walsh and Nina Carberry flew the flag for women riders during their amateur careers, but Blackmore has gone further.
‘Me and Nina shared the weighing room with Rachael but she has taken it to a whole other level. She’s a class act on and off the track and she has people tuning in to racing that never would have before,’ added Walsh.
Captain Guinness was winning a Grade One race at his 14th attempt and cashed in after hotpot El Fabiolo, the 2-9 favourite, was pulled up by Paul Townend after making a bad mistake at the fifth fence. The front-running Edwardstone fell two out when looking beaten, and Captain Guinness held off El Fabiolo’s stablemate Gentleman De Mee in a real battle up the hill.
‘I could see him, hear him, making a mistake. You’re thinking “this changes things” but we’d a long way to go,’ said Blackmore, who surged to the front with two fences to go, only for Gentleman De Mee to reduce the gap.
‘I was thinking half-way up the hill, I didn’t have enough. I’m glad we got to the line.
‘I’m not shocked. I thought his day would come and Henry (de Bromhead) had him spot on.
‘I know Henry’s won this race a few times. I haven’t. It’s an incredible race to win. I’m so delighted it’s finally happened. Sometimes it’s hard to let these things sink in.’
Blackmore and Captain Guinness have been in harness together in 22 of 23 races and only the flintiest of hearts would have begrudged them their day in the spotlight yesterday.
For de Bromhead, this was his fourth Champion Chase, to follow Sizing John (2011), Special Tiara (2017) and Put The Kettle On (2021).
When El Fabiolo stretched and stumbled, the complexion of the race shifted seismically.
‘You’re thinking “we’ve got a right chance now”.
‘He so deserves to win a Grade
One,’ said the trainer. ‘When I saw Gentleman De Mee coming at us. I was thinking “Oh no, he doesn’t deserve this”. He’s such a warrior.’
Of Blackmore, de Bromhead said: ‘You just leave it to her. She’s such an incredible rider, and as good as she is everywhere else, she’s even better here. We’ve had some incredible days.’
Owner Declan Landy was elated at finally cracking the Grade One code. ‘You have to keep turning up, that’s what Willie (Mullins) says,’ he said.
As for the catchy name? ‘He was bought in Leixlip where Arthur Guinness was from. We said we’d call him something Guinness.
‘Arthur Guinness was gone, then I said we’d call him Captain Guinness because of the Captain’s Hill in Leixlip,’ he explained.
For those who backed the 17-2 winner, glasses of the black stuff were raised to toast the nine-year old and the brilliance of Blackmore.
Had the late Queen Mum been present, she’d have approved, no doubt.
“She is a class act and has taken it to another level”