Rachael Blackmore is our greatest national treasure By Vincent FineganI suppose it was inevitable that Rachael would retire soon, but when she didn’t announce it at her beloved Cheltenham or at Aintree where she rewrote history or when the curtain came down on the season at Punchestown, I thought she might carry on for another year or two. Then out of the blue she released a statement on a quiet Monday afternoon that she was done. She had rides booked for the following two days, but connections would have to find other jockeys to replace her. There would be no long-goodbye from Rachael, that wouldn’t be her style, her retirement was with immediate effect. It transpires that her final ride was at Cork on the previous Saturday when she partnered the aptly named Ma Belle Etoile to victory in a six runner novice hurdle. Of course Rachael would go out on a winner, but there was nothing to suggest at that time that her glittering career had come to an end. Her post-race interview in Cork made no reference to her imminent retirement, though, with the benefit of hindsight, it is somewhat telling that her parting remark was to say that Ma Belle Etoile was “very enjoyable to ride.” Presumably, not all of her recent rides were bringing her the same joy. An Extraordinary Career Well Rachael’s extraordinary career has always been very enjoyable to follow. I feel privileged to have been around to see her reach heights others can only dream of. As a father to two daughters I am acutely aware of the difficulties women encounter in a male dominated world and in the microcosm of horse racing the gulf between the sexes is far more pronounced than in most other areas. When I was growing up in racing it was a given that women simply couldn’t compete with men riding horses. Pound for pound men are far stronger. Not only does riding racehorses require strength, but also a complete lack of fear, another attribute more readily associated with young men. Down the years the occasional lady amateur would have a rare big race win against the boys, but that was the exception that proved the rule. Nina Carberry was the first female rider to shatter that illusion. She may have been competing almost exclusively in the amateur ranks, but you knew from an early stage that she was different to those women riders that had gone before. Her ability shone through and it was the first time I can recall punters starting to see a female rider as an asset to have her on their side. Rachael brought this to an altogether different level. Even the most cynical of punters, often with a built in bias against female riders, soon came to the realisation that she was top class. Not only were they content to put their money on a horse ridden by Rachael, but they actively sought out her mounts to bet on. In my experience this had never happened before, certainly not in the male dominated professional riding ranks in Ireland. Rachael was every bit as good as the best and a lot better than the rest. And she achieved this all on her own. The only woman riding professionally over jumps in Ireland against the men. Unprecedented Success She was already a rising star on the Irish racing scene when she took Cheltenham by storm in 2021, riding six winners across the four days, in the process becoming the first woman to ride the winner of the Champion Hurdle. The prospect of a woman becoming the leading rider at the Cheltenham Festival didn’t exist before Rachael made it a reality. A few weeks later she added the Aintree Grand National to her incredible list of achievements, again becoming the first woman to do so in the race’s 173 year history. Twelve months on she was back at Cheltenham, winning the Champion Hurdle for the second time and capping that week off by becoming the first woman in the 97 year history of the Gold Cup to partner the winner. By the time Rachael announced her retirement last week she had amassed a total of 18 Cheltenham Festival winners and become one of only three jockeys to complete the full set of the ‘big five races’ at the Festival. She now sits in a lofty position towards the top of the all-time list of leading jockeys at National Hunt racing’s premier meeting, forever ahead of the likes of nine-times Irish Champion Jockey Charlie Swan and the gifted Paul Carberry. Incredible as Rachael’s riding career has been, I suspect her real legacy is yet to reach fruition. Her unprecedented success will have inspired a generation of young girls to take up sport and follow their dreams. At some point in the near future we are likely to see some of them start to break through and thanks to Rachael, if they are riding horses, their talents will be more readily acknowledged than would have previously been the case. Rachael will presumably stay close to the game in some capacity. I really do hope it is not just as a representative for one of the betting organisations and that the country as a whole can find a suitable avenue for her to continue to inspire our future generations. It is most likely a mere coincidence that she retires at the age of 35 - the exact age when an Irish citizen becomes eligible to run for the office of President - but someone should ask the question. Changing the subject from one national treasure to another. It was interesting to see the Ted Walsh-trained Ta Na La getting pulled in by the Wexford stewards on Saturday after making her debut over fences. Running And Riding Enquiry The six-year-old took 23 attempts before she finally won a race, a mares only maiden hurdle at Bellewstown last July, and languishes on an official hurdle rating of just 109. In Wexford’s five runner novices’ chase Ta Na La appears to have performed at least a stone better than she has ever done before when splitting the Robcour-owned pair of Aspire Tower (rated 142) and Foxy Girl (rated 125) to finish in second place. Rather than bringing Ted Walsh in to explain this significant improvement in form or to ask him why he hadn’t tried the mare over fences before now, the stewards instead deemed Ta Na La had not run on her merits and she is now banned from racing for the next 60 days. The rider has been suspended for 14 days and ordered to forfeit his riding fee, while Walsh himself has been fined €3,000. In the rider’s evidence at the enquiry he stated that his riding instructions included a request to “not use his whip” during the race. This is not the first time I have read that excuse being put forward by a jockey at one of these running and riding enquiries. This is crucial information that at the very least should be in the public domain prior to the running of all races. Trainers are obligated to declare in advance the use of an elastic band to tie-down a horse’s tongue during a race, but don’t have to tell anyone, except the jockey, if the horse is not to be touched with the whip. I know which information I would prefer to be aware of before parting with my hard earned cash.
