Physically, the fact she isn’t a teenager or in her early twenties means she can take falls better, despite looking like a candidate for a ballet troupe. Looks can be deceiving can’t they? Ruby always says he’ll judge how good a jockey will be after they have had a few bad falls and broken some bones. See what their bottle is like, how hard they are. This is a hard game after all. Does it affect their riding into and over a jump? Blackmore has had some pearlers of falls throughout the season, as every busy jockey will. She had 613 rides in 2018-19 – only one other jockey in Ireland had more than 500 – and of course she took some heavy falls, but she bounced up every time and went back unnerved. T HIS winter her avalanche of momentum has thundered ever onward. Honeysuckle was dominant in the Hatton’s Grace and two more Grade 1s were annexed at Leopardstown over Christmas on Notebook and A Plus Tard, while she was second in two others over the four days. These Christmas successes leave her in an enviable position for the spring festivals. Honeysuckle has the options of the Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle or even the Unibet Champion Hurdle, this year’s Annie Power/ Apple’s Jade conundrum. A Plus Tard is among the candidates for the Ryanair Chase or the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase, Monalee heads to the Magners Cheltenham Gold Cup after his narrow defeat in the Savills
Chase, while Notebook has the Racing Post Arkle locked in his sights. Few jockeys have the sort of potential ammunition at their disposal as Blackmore. The 2020 Festival promises so much. No woman has had such powerful allies since Joan of Arc. De Bromhead and Gigginstown House Stud provide her with the sort of firepower all jockeys dream of, while she is on the team sheet for Willie Mullins and Gordon Elliot. It wasn’t always so. She laughs now when she tells the story of ringing up a Festival Grade 1-winning trainer for a ride on a four-year-old filly in a bumper before she turned professional. “Hi, this is Rachael Blackmore, I was just wondering if you were sorted for the bumper on Sunday?” “I’m not, Rachael, who have you got?” “Ah . . . it’s for me actually.” “Oh sorry! I didn’t realise it was a ladies’ race.” “Ah . . . it’s not, but I just saw she had a light weight.” “Okay, I’ll come back to you.” Nowadays it’s Rachael Blackmore who has Festival Grade 1 winners to her name. She might not think she has a lot to say, but what she’s done says more than enough. This is an updated article from Irish Racing Yearbook 2020, available to order at irishracingyearbook.com Face in the crowd: Rachael Blackmore in the throng after winning the Irish Champion Hurdle on Honeysuckle at Leopardstown in February
next day is constantly on your mind. It’s just how it is, and it’s how we’ve seen those before us do it. Russell rode in Tramore after Tiger Roll and I don’t recall Ruby taking a day off after Cheltenham.” The summer of 2019 wasn’t as straightforward as the spring. Stood down for a week after being concussed in Punchestown, she then spent a month on the sidelines after a second concussion in Clonmel. How frustrating was that? Another frown. Another pause. “It was annoying.” Pause. “I missed five winners in the 48 hours after my second concussion.” Pause. “But I told myself wouldn’t it have been worse had it happened around Cheltenham, Fairyhouse, Aintree or Punchestown? These things happen and you deal with them.” A shrug of her shoulders. Her maturity is a huge asset. Blackmore is unusual in that she has come on to the stage relatively late. She was champion conditional at 28 and had been given leading roles with Henry de Bromhead and Gigginstown at 29. This has been to her advantage. She has been well equipped to handle the trappings of success and has a maturity about her riding and her demeanour that stands her in good stead. Pressure seems to drip off her, her intense focus shielding her. She doesn’t drink but can still be found knee-deep in the Bacardi tent at (music festival) Electric Picnic, although recently she did try to persuade me about the advantages of taking seated tickets over standing ones at a Gerry Cinnamon concert. I suppose we all get older eventually.
14 The Festival March 2020
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