Tipperary jockey Rachael Blackmore has made history by becoming the first female jockey to win the 2022 Cheltenham Gold Cup. Her Gold Cup triumph on the 3/1 favourite A Plus Tard made it a Cheltenham Festival to remember for the 32-year-old, coming after she also won the Champion Hurdle on 8/11 shot Honeysuckle.
Blackmore has now joined the ranks of Irish jockeys who have enjoyed great success at the Cheltenham Festival. The retired County Kildare jockey Ruby Walsh holds the record for most wins at the Cheltenham Festival with 59 winning rides.
This event is getting more popular by the year, as is the sport in general, with famous faces from the world of horse racing appearing in wider entertainment. This includes video games such as Frankie Dettori Horse Racing, which gives fans the opportunity to compete as their hero in a simulated race. There is also a presence in iGaming, where the queen of Cheltenham herself has her own exclusive titles at casino at Paddy Power with the likes of the Ruby Walsh: Championās Gold slot game and Ruby Walsh Championās Gold scratchcard. Evidently, the popularity of jockeys such as Walsh and Dettori with racing fans has contributed to the success of these innovative video and online casino games.
Walsh was full of praise for Blackmoreās tactics on Honeysuckle in the 2022 Champion Hurdle: “She didn’t go outside for the safe option, she spots the gap and she doesn’t want to take it as it’s so far from home, but she knows it will be there again so she sits in besides Epatante towards the third last hurdle and commits Honeysuckle to it because she knows she’s going to have to take the gap on landing.ā
Blackmore has forged an impressive partnership with the Henry De Bromhead-trained Honeysuckle. The eight-year-old mare has won all of its 15 career races so far, with Blackmore on board for 14 of the rides. But it is her Gold Cup win that represents yet another career-high. She has now riddenĀ eleven Cheltenham Festival winners in her career.
In 2021, she became the first female jockey to win the Grand National when she rode the 11/1 shot Minella Times to victory. The Grand National success led to a string of accolades including the 2021 RTĆ Sports Person of the Year, the Irish Times’ Ireland Sportswoman of the Year 2021 award and the BBC World Sport Star of the Year.
And her historic Cheltenham Gold Cup win should mean that the next award wonāt be far away. She has also been the subject of a documentary entitled Rachael Blackmore ā A Grand Year, which presents her remarkable rise to the pinnacle of racing and showcases her talent.
The Irish Examiner reported that Blackmore originally wanted to become a vetĀ and has a degree in equine science from the University of Limerick, but the lure of horse racing became irresistible. She won her first amateur race at the age of 22, turning professional in 2017. Just two years later she had her first Grand National ride. Her first winner at the Cheltenham Festival was on A Plus Tard in 2019.
Last season Blackmore boasted 92 winning rides and there is every chance she will beat that tally this year. The bookmakers have already priced up the 2023 Cheltenham Gold Cup and Champion Hurdle with A Plus Tard and Honeysuckle favourites and who would bet against her winning more Cheltenham Festival crowns next time round?