Legendary jockey Rachael Blackmore announces shock retirement after glittering 16-year career
LEGENDARY jumps jockey Rachael Blackmore has announced her retirement from the saddle.
The Grand National-winning rider announced on her social media that she was bringing her glittering 16-year career to an end.
She became the first female jockey to win the Grand National in 2021 when riding Minella Times home at Aintree for long-time boss Henry De Bromhead.
Blackmore, 35, also became the first female to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup on A Plus Tard in 2022, one of 18 winners at the Cheltenham Festival.
She said: “My days of being a jockey have come to an end.
“I feel the time is right. I’m sad but I’m 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 is daunting, not being able to say that I am a jockey anymore… who even am I now! But I feel so incredibly lucky to have had the career I’ve had.
“To have been in the right place at the right time with the right people, and to have gotten on the right horses – because it doesn’t matter how good you are without them. They have given me the best days of my life and to them I am most grateful.”
The trailblazing rider spent three months on the sidelines with a neck injury earlier this year and she struggled for form when she returned to the saddle.
LOWDOWN ON HER INCREDIBLE CAREER
HISTORY-MAKER Rachael Blackmore MBE notched up 18 Cheltenham Festival winners and a Grand National triumph.
But her 10 years of trailblazing victory after victory has been so much more than that.
She was the first woman to triumph in the National – in 2021 on Henry de Bromhead-trained Minella Times.
That same year she also became the first female to end up as the Cheltenham Festival’s leading jockey, with six wins including the Champion Hurdle on Honeysuckle.
It helped Blackmore become both the 2021 RTÉ Sports Person of the Year and BBC World Sport Star of the Year.
The following year she made history again as the first woman to triumph in the
Cheltenham Gold Cup – on favourite A Plus Tard – as well as guiding Honeysuckle to another Champion Hurdle success.
Here’s a guide to some of her achievements:
- March 2015 – turned professional.September 2015 – first win..2018 – Grand National debut.
- April 2019 – first Grade 1 victory.
- 2021 – first woman to win the Champion Hurdle and first female to finish the Cheltenham Festival as leading jockey.
Also first female winner of the Grand National. - 2022 – second successive Champion Hurdle win on Honeysuckle.
First woman to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup, on favourite A Plus Tard. - 2025 – Completes clean sweep of the Festival’s Big Four – adding the Stayers’ Hurdle to the Champion Hurdle, Champion Chase and Gold Cup
But she ended up having another hugely successful season and completed a clean-sweep of the four flagship Cheltenham Festival races when winning the Stayers’ Hurdle on Bob Olinger in March.
She also won the Champion Hurdle twice on the brilliant mare Honeysuckle as well as the Champion Chase on Captain Guinness last year.
She continued: “The people to thank are endless, it’s not possible to mention everyone.
“Firstly, my parents who provided me with the best childhood, and a pony I couldn’t hold! This set the seed for a life of racing.
“I rode my first winner for Shark Hanlon, who then helped me become Champion Conditional.
“I will be forever grateful to Shark for getting behind me, supporting me and believing in me when it would have been just as easy to look elsewhere. He was the catalyst for what was to come.
“A conversation between Eddie O’Leary and Henry de Bromhead in a taxi on the way to Aintree took my career to a whole new level.
“Eddie got me in the door at Knockeen, and what came next was unimaginable: Honeysuckle, A Plus Tard, Minella Indo, Captain Guinness, Bob Olinger, Minella Times, among many others… all with one thing in common – Henry de Bromhead.
“He’s a phenomenal trainer, who brought out the best in me. Without Henry, my story is very different.
“To all my great friends – you made winning special. Brian Hayes won’t enjoy getting a mention, but he was more important to my career than I’ll ever be able to thank him for.”