Little time for Rachael Blackmore to relax after hitting gold as she now has Grand National in her sights

Blackmore had toasted her success at Cheltenham with friends in Kilkenny on Sunday night – but it’s clear she’s now focused on getting back on track with Aintree, Punchestown and Fairyhouse still to come.

The 32-year-old, who became the first jockey to win the Gold Cup at Cheltenham last week, was in a humble mood as she shared the secret to her success.

“I think racing is a lot about being in the right place at the right time,” she said.

“When I first started riding for Henry his horses were on fire and having a really good summer. From then on it snowed. If he hadn’t shared the cab with Eddie (O’Leary), it could have been someone else. This is racing. You have to prove yourself, but you also have to allow yourself these breaks.”

She was referring to the time when de Bromhead went to Aintree in a taxi with Eddie O’Leary, manager of the Gigginstown House stud farm, who recommended that he use Blackmore as his rider.

It was a proposal he took on board – and the pair have not looked back since, as Blackmore gave him his maiden Grand National win and several high-profile wins at Cheltenham last year.

Honeysuckle and A Plus Tard appeared a little unnerved as they posed for photos with Blackmore and de Bromhead in front of photographers and journalists yesterday, with the latter joking: “She’s much better sitting on it than standing next to them.”

Blackmore noted that Honeysuckle, who rode her to victory in the Champion Hurdle for the second year in a row last week, has some quirky traits and “doesn’t like too many people bugging her in her stable.”

For the superstar jockey, days of calm and quiet may be rare and photos of her being bullied by fans at racetracks are now becoming the norm.

When asked if she had a similar experience celebrating her win in Kilkenny, she said: “No, not at all. I think everyone had been out for the past few days so we were just a small crew. It was nice.”

Blackmore narrowly missed out on a Gold Cup win last year when Cheltenham was played behind closed doors due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Having a crowd there as she landed her win this time made it all the more special.

“Sometimes you can hear a horse coming up behind you, or feel a horse coming up behind you, or hear the commentator’s voice change,” she said. “But you don’t hear it in Cheltenham because it’s so loud you don’t know how far you’ve got. It was a phenomenal experience.”

Blackmore said she’s always trying to improve as a jockey and tries to learn from her mistakes – both on and off the track.

“I made sure I didn’t miss my flight anyway, like I did after the Grand National,” she said.

She flew home on Friday night but is yet to make it back to her hometown of Killenaule due to a hectic schedule that included another win at Thurles on Saturday. It’s a track dear to her heart as it was the scene of her first win.

“It feels like it’s been a long time. I don’t think anyone looked at the TV that day and thought I would morph into what happened. First off, I wasn’t very stylish,” she said.

“The excitement of driving a winner doesn’t come until you’ve done it, and when you do it you just want it to happen again and again.”

With glorious sunshine, another meaningful win and the little Grand National at Aintree to look forward to, she had plenty to smile about for a Monday.

But for all the excitement, there was a business-as-usual feel to de Bromhead’s yard and there was plenty more work to do for this year’s racing season.

When asked if she rated her chances of doubling with the Minella Times at this year’s Grand National, she remained shy.

“We’ll try,” she said with a smile.