STAR IS SADDLING UP FOR A GOOD CAUSE Riding my luck for the €5k charity donations is really big win-win for everyone
Hero Rachael reflects on top career as she boosts injured jockeys fund
IF at first you don’t succeed, keep trying. That’s always been Rachael Blackmore’s mantra.
In a sport dominated by family dynasties, the 34-year-old from Killenaule, Co Tipperary forged her own path.
Despite only turning professional aged 25, Blackmore is one of the sport’s most instantly recognisable faces thanks to her historic Grand National success on Minella Times in 2021 as well as her Gold Cup win aboard A Plus Tard a year later.
Speaking at the launch of Betfair’s Serial Winners Fund at Haydock Park, which will see the bookmaker donate £5,000 (€5,800) to charity for every winner Blackmore rides this season, she said landing the big prizes hasn’t diminished her appetite for success.
Blackmore said: “I don’t start off the season and set myself a goal per se. So many things change and there’s so many things out of your control.
“Obviously, as a jockey, you want to be riding on the big days. You want to be competing in the big races and winning the big races and that’s always the goal.
“I’m very lucky in that I’m involved with some very good horses and you’re just trying to deliver on those.”
Once dubbed a “reluctant” star of racing, Blackmore seems more at ease in the spotlight these days, although she remains as humble as ever.
So as her trailblazing journey is charted in Serial Winners: Rachael Blackmore, why agree to a documentary at this point in her career?
She said: “I suppose it is very nice to have something to look back on. When you see everything put together like that, it is very nice to have that.
“It is incredibly generous what Betfair are doing in relation to the serial winners fund and the money they are going to give to the Injured Jockeys Fund and the Irish Injured Jockeys.
“I’m doing what I love doing and I’m in the bubble of it. I’m very lucky to have had the success that I’ve had, but I’m still on that wheel.
“I don’t feel comfortable or uncomfortable in the spotlight, I’m just trying to keep doing what I’ve been doing and stay riding winners.”
Riding predominantly for leading Irish trainer Henry de Bromhead, Blackmore admits it isn’t the easiest profession, but says she loves being part of a team that has annexed multi Grade One winners at home and in the UK.
Blackmore added: “I can’t really remember a moment when I thought ‘this is going to be my career’, it just kind of evolved into what it is.
“When I was 25 and I finished college and took out my conditional licence, that was when it evolved into being my main focus.
“I ride out for Henry De Bromhead and Willie Mullins – I do three days a week with each.
“If we are racing on a Friday and I’m in Henry’s, I get up around ten-toseven, he starts riding out at ten-toeight. In the summer, you could have four or five lots before you go racing. In the winter, racing is obviously on a lot earlier, so you don’t ride out as much in the morning. “They are long days essentially. I love what I do and it is a great thing to be doing.” In a sport where an ambulance follows the runners and riders of each race, the risk of serious injury was highlighted, once again, at Newcastle last month.
Galway’s Graham Lee was unseated from a horse called Ben Macdui and remains in hospital after suffering injuries to his spine as well as fractures to vertebrae in his neck.
Blackmore doesn’t overthink the risks involved and insists that being a jockey isn’t for those who do.
The Tipperary native added: “I’ve had plenty of injuries, luckily, nothing ever too serious.
“The worst one I had was when I broke my hip and my ankle on different sides at the same time. Luckily, we’ve a fantastic medical team looking after us.
“It is just part and parcel of what we do. You don’t put too much focus on it. If it is something that’s at the front of your mind, then being a jockey isn’t the right job for you.”
As the new National Hunt season gets into full swing during the winter months, Blackmore and De Bromhead will again be targeting the biggest prizes in jumps racing.
With Grand National hero Minella Times and dual Champion Hurdle winner Honeysuckle both retired, the Waterford trainer will be looking for a
new generation of stars to emerge. However, Blackmore is hoping a familiar name will bounce back to form this season.
She said: “He [Henry] has got a lot of really nice, young horses, but I’m very much looking forward to A Plus Tard coming back this season.
“He has been an incredible horse for me and my career. Hopefully...he’ll be heading to Leopardstown at Christmas.
“He is a seriously talented horse. He put up an incredible performance at Haydock when he won the Betfair Chase. What he went on to do after that when winning the Gold Cup was phenomenal.
“I’m very much looking forward to seeing him back.”
While some of de Bromhead’s stable stars have retired, it isn’t something that’s even on her radar.
For Rachael Blackmore, her sole focus is chasing that next winner.