‘It’s sunk in now and what I’ve realised is that Festival winners last, they’re different’
was one of those races that unfold perfectly. Everything just happened as I planned and when I gave him a squeeze after the last he accelerated in a way I thought I’d never feel going up that hill.” What was the feeling crossing the line? She pauses, clasps her hands together and puts them to her mouth. “Relief.” Pause. A loud smile. “Joy too, obviously!” she adds with a flash, radiating happiness the way a fire radiates heat. Was it everything you thought it would be? “Yes and no. The walk back in was fun. I saw a guy who brought me to his debs, shouting well done, Ruby and [wife] Gillian were further on too. A Plus Tard was the favourite so we got an unbelievable reception walking back in.” So what about the ‘no’ then? “It’s the Tuesday of The Festival so we celebrated by going back to the house – my boyfriend Brian Hayes, Kate Harrington, Richie Deegan, Sara Rose, Paul Byrne and you – and ordering some pizza around the kitchen table and then off to bed pretty early. And it was lovely.” Pause. There are lots of these. “But the next day, it was up and at it again. Obviously I was happy but I was thinking about my rides to come, the previous day was done with. But it’s sunk in now and what I’ve realised is that Festival winners last, they’re different.” The Wednesday and Thursday were largely disappointing – good rides running well without winning. By the Friday of The Festival, Tuesday can seem like a long time ago. Time only flies when you’re having fun – and Minella Indo sped up the clock. “I’d been in front sooner than I wanted in a race the day before so Henry was instilling in me to take my time. I was keen, jumping well and in front a mile out, not the plan! I remember coming down the hill thinking, Please. Don’t. Stop.” Was it much different to your first winner? “Yes, I remember thinking ‘This is a Grade 1, my first’. That was important. Even Jack
her first winner at The Festival TM presented by Magners, then followed her first Festival Grade 1, her first Irish Grade 1, a maiden Aintree win and a Punchestown Grade 1. She finished second in the jockeys’ championship ahead of Davy Russell, Ruby Walsh, Barry Geraghty and all, won a Kerry National, a Hatton’s Grace Hurdle, as well as two other Grade 1s at Leopardstown over Christmas. So Rachael, tell me about it.“I haven’t a lot to say now.” I roll my eyes and take a deep breath. Writing this could be hard work, the equivalent of McCoy on Wichita Lineman. A FTER those Festival successes – aboard A Plus Tard in the Close Brothers Novices’ Handicap Chase and 50-1 shot Minella Indo in the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle – it’s easy to forget she lost her best chance even before the tapes went up when Honeysuckle was unable to take her place as favourite for the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle. On top of that, I don’t think any jockey has had such a potential distraction beside their place of work as Paddy Power’s statue of Blackmore outside Cheltenham with the inscription: “Some jockeys have big balls. Others are just great jockeys.” It could easily have thrown her off balance before the biggest week in the calendar. But Blackmore didn’t blink, not even after her first ride of The Festival, Ornua, fired her into the dirt in the Racing Post Arkle. But then she hit the bullseye with a 16-length demolition job in what was the 20-runner Close Brothers Handicap Chase, giving A Plus Tard a typically clinical Blackmore ride: kept handy, settled and jumping slickly. “We fancied him,” she recounts. “I remember seeing Ruby beforehand. He was in his suit so I felt okay to ask him for some advice on how to ride the race. Henry [de Bromhead, trainer] was relaxed and left the tactics to me. It
Rachael Blackmore savours a first Festival Grade 1 victory on Minella Indo
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