April 14, 2021 
In the world of Thoroughbred racing, famous jockeys are commonplace in every horsehousehold.
In the U.S., there’s “Big Money” Mike Smith of Zenyatta and Arrogate fame. There’s three-time consecutive Eclipse Award-winning Champion Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., who many jokingly believe could win a race on a donkey—riding backwards. And, of course, internationally, there is Lanfranco “Frankie” Dettori, who is only slightly better known than his most successful equine partner, the recently retired Breeders’ Cup Turf and double Arc-winning mare, Enable.
The female side of jockeydom has been mostly relegated to U.S. historical figures. There was Diane Crump, the first and Julie Krone, the winningest. More recently, Canadian Chantal Sutherland combined successful riding and modeling careers and, in the U.S., Rosie Napravnik became famous for her last ride, winning the Breeders’ Cup Distaff on Untapable in 2014…while newly pregnant with her first child.
History is getting an update.
Britain’s Hollie Doyle claimed a record 117 flat racing wins for a female jockey in 2020 and became the first female jockey to win a race on Saudi Cup day, Feb. 20, 2021, the opening $1 million Neom Turf Cup. Prior to the big Saudi Cup day and with the help of a Royal decree, Lisa Allpress became the first female jockey to win a race in Saudi Arabia during the Feb. 19 International Jockeys Challenge.
Successful as they were and are, female jockeys’ success in racing has been limited to limited success in Thoroughbred racing on dirt or turf. The grueling jumps, obstacles and water hazards of steeplechase racing at its highest level—England’s Grand National at Aintree—remained the province of men for its 185-year history.
Well, that’s history, too.
Ireland’s Rachael Blackmore on her Irish mount Minella Times became the first woman jockey to win what many consider to be the world’s most challenging race, the 30-jump, hazard-strewn Grand National, last Saturday at Aintree.
Though her Grand National success was a historic first for a woman jockey in the race’s 173 runnings, Blackmore’s star has been on the rise for some time.
Blackmore was born and raised in Killenaule, County Tipperary, in the south of the Republic of Ireland. Her mother, Eimir, was a school teacher and her father, Charles, a dairy farmer who also bred horses.
Young Rachael grew up around horses, “owning” her first one, Bubbles, at only age seven.
Like many “overnight” success stories, Blackmore’s came after several years of hard work and gradual rise in the rider ranks. The now 31-year-old Blackmore began riding professionally in 2015 when Irish trainer John “Shark” Hanlon gave her a first professional ride.
A reputed hard work ethic and love of her profession gained widespread notice after the rider won the 2017 conditional riders’ championship in Ireland. Her star rose further after she earned the jockey award during the March 2021 Cheltenham Festival.
Her Grand National win was not her first attempt at snaring steeplechase racing’s most difficult—and controversial—prize. (We’ll get to the latter in a another post.) Her first Grand National ride in 2018, Alpha des Obeaux, went off at 33-1 odds. Horse and rider fell at the 15th fence, the infamous “Chair.”
Speaking to the Irish Mirror, following daughter Rachael’s Grand National triumph, father Charles said “It’s dream stuff, you could never have envisaged that this would happen. She found something that she loved and she worked hard to make it happen.”
Mother Eimir was equally impressed, but expressed the usual parental concern. “We’re extremely proud of what she has achieved but I’m also very proud of myself because I actually managed to watch the race.
“It’s hard to watch when your child is travelling over jumps at 30 miles an hour. She’s doing something she loves, and has a passion for but, as a parent, you’re always a bit concerned.”
After her Grand National victory Saturday, Blackmore dismissed it as a victory for her gender alone, saying, “This is a massive deal for me personally, not the fact I’m a female. The thing that hit me when I crossed the line was that I’d won the National, not that I’m the first female to win the National. I’m just delighted.”
Still, female she is and her achievement is one not only unaccomplished by a woman jockey before, but unavailable to a woman jockey racing in the Grand National until 1975, when the Sex Discrimination Act was passed in the United Kingdom and female jockeys were allowed to enter and ride.
The young champion’s future will undoubtedly include more and better horses in equally prestigious races. Personally, there likely will be endorsement deals and a magazine cover or two.
But the newfound fame and the money and attention that come with it won’t do much to change life when Rachael returns home.
“She’s very hard working and when she’s here she just mucks in and does whatever jobs have to be done,” says mom Eimir. “That’s the way it always was when she was growing up.”
“It’ll be great to have another hand on the farm.”
