Rachael Blackmore

[Lordamighty]

Congratulations Rachael, first ever female winner of the Grand National.

A true professional and a great tactician.

Brilliant

Yay! What a lovely result. cheers all!

She is absolutely amazing to watch, she is so quiet and in tune with the horse and so kind and yet gets every last drop of energy from them. She hardly moves til it matters and when she does move it's in perfect harmony with the horse, she gives as much as they do.

She's an amazing ambassador for the industry. I watched National Velvet and International Velvet, Ive had horses since I was 15 and could work part time and pay my livery (we definitely aren't affluent) and every horsey girl dreams big. Charlotte DJ did amazing things for dressage, Mary King et al for 3 day eventing and now Rachel for racing. In a sport that is so brutal for a woman to not only compete but beat the men is amazing.

So pleased to see this. Well done Rachael!

I’ve just watched the race and I am so excited she won - what an absolute star she is.

An historical moment it now seems unbelievable that women have had to wait for the opportunity for such a long time.

What a champion!!

Such a shame that the first female GN winner happened to be the year when there was no crowd to roar her home, but nothing can detract from her incredible achievement. What a woman!

Amazing for her, for women in racing and for women’s sport in general! Thank you Rachael inspiration to women young and old. Top form at Cheltenham, now the Grand National to, excellent consistency on a worldwide stage.

Ooh yes National Velvet.

With Rachael & Bryony Frost, perhaps the tides are turning a bit quicker...

@HighlandCowbag

She is absolutely amazing to watch, she is so quiet and in tune with the horse and so kind and yet gets every last drop of energy from them. She hardly moves til it matters and when she does move it's in perfect harmony with the horse, she gives as much as they do.

She's an amazing ambassador for the industry. I watched National Velvet and International Velvet, Ive had horses since I was 15 and could work part time and pay my livery (we definitely aren't affluent) and every horsey girl dreams big. Charlotte DJ did amazing things for dressage, Mary King et al for 3 day eventing and now Rachel for racing. In a sport that is so brutal for a woman to not only compete but beat the men is amazing.

👏🏻 Completely agree with everything you say. We have some bloody special women in our sport.

She was amazing. I cried watching the finish. Loved her comment after too.

Incredible, she's an absolute ⭐️

It’s been a fantastic season for female jockeys (and hopefully the time is close when we can stop saying “female jockeys” and just refer to them as “jockeys”) - Bryony Frost winning the King George, Rachael top jockey at Cheltenham with the Champion Hurdle among her wins, and now this. So good to see the traditional hidebound sexism within racing giving way so that women get the opportunities they deserve on merit. Brilliant result today (and I’d had my once-a-year bet on her and Minella Times )

A woman’s place is on the podium.

Made me quite emotional and I hope Bryony Frost is ok...heard she was taken to hospital.
Bloody incredible race with so many natural front runners and the majority of horses jumping well.
But WELL DONE RACHEL!

I love equestrianism, where men and women compete against each other, and it's good to see racing get a top female jockey: any chance she can win SPOTY in December? As an absolute record breaking performance?

This is a great result, but can I ask where the love for Sabine Schmitz was?

I can't see any post about her tragically early death.

@TwistedEyeOfHorus

I love equestrianism, where men and women compete against each other, and it's good to see racing get a top female jockey: any chance she can win SPOTY in December? As an absolute record breaking performance?

She’s Irish, so she’d only be eligible for the international category of SPOTY.

I’m delighted Rachael won, it’s a historic moment. But I was pondering with friends yesterday (after my ds spent a day as the only boy at Pony Club) where does the balance tip? My boy was the only boy among a huge gaggle of girls at Pony Club yesterday. When do the scales tip and boys become the winners, in a sport and lifestyle that is dominated by girls and women at lower levels and younger ages? I want the best for him, and drive him to succeed but I know that the odds are in his favour to succeed compared to my daughter, who has the same lessons and the same encouragement and investment made in her. Equestrianism, the only truly equal discipline, still favours men even though the majority of participants are women. I applaud every woman who bursts through the barriers and records a win for women - here’s hoping she paves the way to women jockey winners being the norm.

Simply wonderful to witness, especially alongside my ten year old daughter. Truly historic. Congratulations Rachael! An amazing talent.

When do the scales tip and boys become the winners, in a sport and lifestyle that is dominated by girls and women at lower levels and younger ages?

Pony racing (as opposed to pony club) is still dominated by boys in Ireland. Jack Kennedy (who is an excellent rider) was plucked from the pony racing circuit and swept off to stardom at the age of 16, being crowned champion conditional jockey for the season (the jumps equivalent of an apprentice on the Flat- you can be a conditional and "claim" a certain amount of weight to be taken off your mounts till you win 75 races ) a week after his 17th birthday and won the Gold Cup at the recent Cheltenham festival aged 21.
Rachael did some pony racing (her first pony racing winner came when beating Paul Townend who is the current Irish champion professional jockey) then started point to point riding as an amateur jockey. The story goes she was cadging rides on poor horses and dangerous ones that nobody else wanted to ride, to try to get more race experience, till she got spotted by Shark Hanlon who thought she was too good to waste getting killed by some idiot useless youngster. He got her riding better horses under rules and persuaded her to turn professional at the age of 25, then Henry de Bromhead gave her a go (encouraged by the O'Learys I think, who I do not care for, but fair dues to them for that and she is not the only female jockey they have let their trainers put up on their horses) and she won the conditional jockeys' championship for the season ending a few months before her 27th birthday. I don't think this would have been possible in Britain as AFAIK you automatically lose your claim and conditional licence on your 26th birthday there even if you haven't won 75 races, and have to turn full professional with no claim, or give up/revert to being an amateur.
The claim is a big deal- without it young jockeys would struggle to get rides as one of their main attractions is the ability to get a few pounds knocked off their horses' weight cloths. So jockeys really need to attract attention and prove they are good enough as they get closer to losing their claim, so they will continue to get good rides without it. She did that.
www.google.com/amp/s/www.irishtimes.com/sport/racing/rachael-blackmore-irish-horse-racing-s-accidental-trailblazer-1.2443724%3fmode=amp

I didn't back Minella Times but was delighted when she won. She richly deserves it.

Thanks for all the fantastic information posters. Great win

Congratulations to Rachel Blackmore. I hope the last ever Grand National winner. I think the race is cruel to horses and would like it to end.

Well done Rachael. Not often a jockey gets to win Cheltenham and the National in the same year.

She’s a fantastic horsewomen and so genuine. Apparently after riding in the Irish National she was approached outside the weighing room for her autograph by a young boy. She asked him if he wanted more signatures and when he said yes she took the race card into the weighing room and got every jockey who had ridden in the race to sign their name gore returning it to a very happy fan!