‘A fantastic result for racing’ – Rachael Blackmore salutes Saffie Osborne Rachael Blackmore knows all about making history and the first woman to ride the winner of the Grand National paid tribute to the skill and dedication of Saffie Osborne after she claimed St Leger glory aboard Highwayman at Doncaster. The most decorated female jumps rider of all time, it was in 2021 that Blackmore steered Minella Times to Aintree history, a landmark achievement that came on the back of a Cheltenham Festival where she finished the week as leading rider. She would enjoy more firsts at the Cheltenham Festival when winning the Champion Hurdle twice aboard arguably her most famous ally Honeysuckle, as well as a Gold Cup triumph aboard A Plus Tard amidst roars at Prestbury Park in 2022, retiring in 2025 with 18 Festival wins to her name. Now she has taken great pleasure in watching Osborne enter the record books herself when becoming the first female winner of a British Classic at the age of 24, fully appreciating the emotions her contemporary from the Flat side of the divide will be feeling. Blackmore told the Press Association: “It’s an incredible achievement for Saffie and I’m delighted for her. She’s an extremely talented rider and getting an opportunity like that today is no more than she deserves. “It was a fantastic result for racing, the oldest Classic, and a massive achievement – I’m sure she’s over the moon. “She’s put herself in a position to pick up a spare ride such as that, she’s there and Joseph (O’Brien, trainer) was extremely happy to use her. You’re not in that position without a lot of hard work and talent and she ticks both of those boxes. “It’s fantastic to see and she looked like she got a massive kick out of it crossing the line, as she should because it’s a very special day.” Blackmore famously said, ‘I don’t feel male or female right now. I don’t even feel human’, after her Grand National heroics and admitted to being a little envious of the celebrations Osborne will enjoy after her own history-making moment. “I think she’ll just be on cloud nine right now,” continued Blackmore. “It’s such a special feeling when you have one like she is having right now and I’m jealous of what she will be going through right now.” While Blackmore set the standard for female riders over jumps, it is Hollie Doyle and Hayley Turner that have been trailblazers for the women’s weighing room on the level. Doyle was the first woman to win a major European Classic when Nashwa won the Prix de Diane (French Oaks) in 2022 and always believed it would be a matter of time before Osborne joined her as a winner at the highest level. Doyle said: “It was a great spare for her to pick up and fair play, it’s her first Group One and not a bad one! “She’ll be having a dream day right now and she’s had a great season. It was only a matter of time before she got a good opportunity in a Group One and hopefully there will be plenty more to come.” Turner was the first female jockey in Europe to ride 1,000 worldwide winners in November 2023, matching that achievement in Britain the following year before retiring in 2025. A dual Group One-winning jockey thanks to the exploits of Dream Ahead and Margot Did, the ex-jockey turned pundit was thrilled to witness history being made on Town Moor. Turner said: “It’s amazing and I got goosebumps watching it, I’m so pleased for her. “A British Classic is one thing myself and Hollie haven’t managed to do yet and it is just thrilling, I’m so happy for her and she deserves it. “I spoke to her yesterday and told her she had a really good chance. I said you could be the first girl to ever ride a British Classic winner and she said, ‘well you’ve nicked all the other first things so at least there’s one for me!’. “She totally deserves it and she’s such a good rider and it’s so nice to see. It’s happened slowly, but the transformation is there now. It might have took 250 years for a girl to win one, but we’ve got there eventually.”
