Hot on the heels of Hollie Doyle’s record-setting feats on the flat, May 2025 brought more surprising news from the world of female jockeys. Seemingly out of nowhere, the Irish sensation Rachael Blackmore announced that she would retire with immediate effect.
Whilst unexpected, many fans will be delighted to see Rachael leave at a time of her choosing, particularly as she has only recently returned from a serious neck injury.
And so, at 35 years of age, the County Tipperary native has donned her silks for the final time, but what a legacy she leaves behind.
Slow Beginnings
It is hard to imagine a time when Rachael Blackmore wasn’t rattling in the winners. However, it’s fair to say that the early stages of her career fell into the “slow burn” category.
Born on the 11th of July 1989, Rachael made her love for all things equine apparent from an early age. Taking up pony riding at the tender age of two, much of her youth was spent attending pony club, hunts, and eventing. Later, displaying brains to go with her burgeoning talent in the saddle, she completed a degree in equine science.
From there, Rachael set out as an amateur rider, mixing it up between Point-to-Points and professional tracks. Her first winner under rules arrived aboard Stowaway Pearl on the 10th of February 2011. However, by 2015, she had amassed only seven winners under rules and 11 in the Point-to-Point sphere.
Struggling to make much headway in her pursuit of the female Point-to-Point rider title, Blackmore heeded the advice of Shark Hanlon and entered the professional ranks in 2015. Two years later, she became the first female winner of the Irish Conditional Jockeys’ title – a fine achievement, but much more would follow.
Exploding into the Big Time
By 2019, Rachael’s talents had caught the attention of powerful trainer Henry De Bromhead, who wasted little time making her stable jockey at his Knockeen yard. Combining Blackmore’s talents with a higher calibre of horse sounded like a match made in heaven on paper, and so it proved in practice.
Cheltenham Festival Winners
| Year | Race | Winner | Trainer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Stayers’ Hurdle | Bob Olinger | Henry de Bromhead |
| 2025 | Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle | Air Of Entitlement | Henry de Bromhead |
| 2024 | Queen Mother Champion Chase | Captain Guiness | Henry de Bromhead |
| 2024 | Supreme Novices’ Hurdle | Slade Steel | Henry de Bromhead |
| 2023 | Ryanair Chase | Envoi Allen | Henry de Bromhead |
| 2023 | Mares’ Hurdle | Honeysuckle | Henry de Bromhead |
| 2022 | Cheltenham Gold Cup | A Plus Tard | Henry de Bromhead |
| 2022 | Turners’ Novices’ Chase | Bob Olinger | Henry de Bromhead |
| 2022 | Champion Hurdle | Honeysuckle | Henry de Bromhead |
| 2021 | Triumph Hurdle | Quilixious | Henry de Bromhead |
| 2021 | Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle | Telmesomethinggirl | Henry de Bromhead |
| 2021 | Ryanair Chase | Allaho | Willie Mullins |
| 2021 | Champion Bumper | Sir Gerhard | Willie Mullins |
| 2021 | Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle | Bob Olinger | Henry de Bromhead |
| 2021 | Champion Hurdle | Honeysuckle | Henry de Bromhead |
| 2020 | Mares’ Hurdle | Honeysuckle | Henry de Bromhead |
| 2019 | Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle | Minella Indo | Henry de Bromhead |
| 2019 | Novices’ Handicap Chase | A Plus Tard | Henry de Bromhead |
Blackmore already had seven wins at Grade 2 and Grade 3 level heading into the 2019 edition of the Cheltenham Festival. However, it was at the March showpiece that she first grabbed the attention of the wider racing world. A win aboard A Plus Tard in the Close Brothers Novices’ Handicap Chase on Day 1 preceded a first career Grade 1 with 50/1 chance Minella Indo in the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle on Day 4.
Second winner of the week for Rachael Blackmore! Minella Indo lands the Albert Bartlett and at a mighty 50-1 in a 1-2-3 for Ireland #TheFestival #CheltenhamFestival pic.twitter.com/7BIFYb0Ew8
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) March 15, 2019
Blackmore added to her tally aboard Honeysuckle in the 2020 Close Brothers Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle. And then came 2021.
In a meeting taking place behind closed doors, Blackmore reached into the homes of millions with wins aboard Honeysuckle (Champion Hurdle), Bob Ollinger (Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle), Sir Gerhard (Champion Bumper), Allaho (Ryanair Chase), Tellmesomethinggirl (Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle), and Quilixios (Triumph Hurdle). That haul of six wins at the meeting was enough for Blackmore to become the first female rider to top the Cheltenham Festival Leading Jockey table.
Rachael couldn’t quite match that tally in 2022, but she still dominated the headlines. Having claimed the Champion Hurdle aboard Honeysuckle and the Turner’s Novice Chase with Bob Ollinger, her crowning moment came in the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
Ahead of that 2022 edition, no female jockey had ever claimed jumps racing’s crown jewel. Rachael changed all that with a masterful hold up ride aboard A Plus Tard, who looked like he had only joined in turning for home and powered to a resounding 15-length romp.
Three more Cheltenham Festival wins followed in 2023, whilst in 2024 she added the Queen Mother Champion Chase to her haul with Captain Guinness. In her final Cheltenham Festival appearance, Blackmore bagged another brace. The success of Bob Ollinger in the 2025 Stayers Hurdle saw her join an elite band of riders with wins in all four championship-level events at the biggest meeting of the year.
Awesome at Aintree
National Hunt fans may remember Rachael best for her exploits at the Cheltenham Festival. To the general public, the date that will live forever in the memory is the 10th of April 2021. Heading to Aintree on the back of that electric Prestbury Park performance, Blackmore proceeded to produce a result which reverberated around the world.
Due to their relative scarcity in the National Hunt game, female riders invariably attract more than their fair share of attention ahead of the Aintree Grand National. Before that 2021 edition, 32 runners had a female in the saddle in the entire history of the race; none had managed to finish any higher than third. Rachael, herself, had two previous cracks over the big fences – falling in 2018 and finishing 10th in 2019.
In 2021, she made it third time lucky. Of the three Henry De Bromhead entries, Rachael plumped for the JP McManus-owned Minella Times. And what a decision that turned out to be. The first Grand National to ever take place behind closed doors also became the first in which a woman rode the winner as Rachael and Minella Times roared to glory by six and a half lengths.
Stellar Record and Stellar Company
In addition to becoming the first woman to win the most famous jumps race on the planet, Rachael departs with 564 National Hunt wins (a record for a female rider), 33 Grade 1s, and 18 at the Cheltenham Festival.
| Irish Jumps Wins | British Jumps Wins | Flat Wins | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 527 | 37 | 12 | 576 |
In winning the Grand National, the Cheltenham Gold Cup, the Champion Hurdle, and the Queen Mother Champion Chase, she became only the fourth jockey to win the four biggest races on the National Hunt calendar. The other three names on that list? None other than all-time greats, AP McCoy, Ruby Walsh, and Barry Geraghty.
Farewell to a True Icon
In racing, as in life, all good things must come to an end. In announcing her decision on X, Blackmore stated:
“I feel the time is right. I’m sad but also incredibly grateful for what my life has been for the past 16 years. 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.”
It was a typically humble statement from the most likeable of riders. However, Henry De Bromhead perhaps summed up the 2021 BBC World Sports Star of the Year best, stating simply:
“As a rider and as a person, she was pure class.”
