Woman winner of Grand National tells children ‘follow your dreams’
RACHAEL BLACKMORE has encouraged children to follow their dreams after becoming the first female jockey to win the Randox Grand National.
Her words after a mesmerising win on Minella Times came four decades after North Yorkshire’s Bob Champion beat cancer to win the race on Aldaniti – and thank his Guisborough teacher who encouraged him to become a rider.
The 19th female rider to line up in the world’s greatest, and most demanding, steeplechase since 1977 when Charlotte Brew was the first to tackle the course, Blackmore’s success came as no surprise to those in racing who, for some time, have regarded her as one of the best jockeys on either side of the Irish Sea.
And the homecoming enjoyed by Blackmore came just weeks after she and Henry de Bromhead, the trainer of Minella Times, dominated the Cheltenham Festival.
The history-making 31-yearold has repeatedly brushed aside questions about gender, putting her success down to hard work. “To young people out there, male or female, if you want to go and do something, do it, because for me standing here right now, it shows that literally anything can happen,” she said.
Former rider Katie Walsh, whose brother Ruby won two Nationals, concurred, “It is history without doubt, but I don’t think this needed to happen to encourage women into sport or to show people on the outside that we’re level,” she said after the landmark win. “This isn’t just pot luck or a fluke, she’s worked hard to get this and she deserves it.” Meanwhile Aintree regional director Dickon White lauded the win as “a story for the ages”. “It doesn’t matter who you are or where you’re from, if you have a dream you should go for it,” he added.
Standing here right now, it shows that literally anything can happen Rachael Blackmore, the first female jockey to win the Grand National