Retiring Rachael Blackmore 'didn't just break glass ceilings, she painted the sky'

RTÉ News​

12-05-2025

Jane Mangan and Ruby Walsh have paid tribute to the retiring Rachael Blackmore, "the greatest female jockey the world has ever seen".
The Tipperary woman today called time on a hugely successful 16-year career in the saddle that saw her become the first woman to win an Aintree Grand National or Cheltenham Gold Cup, among many other achievements.
" My reaction initially was sad, but I'm so grateful that she can go out on her own terms, because it brings to a close an unprecedented journey," said RTÉ Racing analyst Mangan.
"This has never been done by a woman before what she has achieved. Put it this way, if I said to anybody in 2018 that a woman would ride 18 Cheltenham Festival winners, including a Gold Cup, including a Stayers' Hurdle, a Champion Chase, and two Champion Hurdles, you'd probably laugh.
"And then if I told you we'll throw in an Aintree Grand National for good measure, then you'd definitely roll your eyes.
"Rachel Blackmore's story has been out of this world. She has made what has been abnormal seem normal, and she has made what seemed impossible, not that long ago, achievable.
"She has remained completely unchanged despite all of her accolades and in terms of transcending sport."
"It brings to a close an unprecedented journey. This has never been done by a woman before, what she has achieved. A hero on and off the track." - @jane_mangan pays tribute to Rachael Blackmore, who has announced the end of her glittering career as a jockey pic.twitter.com/YigWxYS1h5
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) May 12, 2025
Mangan said Blackmore had "redefined what it means to be a female jockey" and inspired future women riders.
"You have proved that gender doesn't define who you are or what you can achieve or how high you can fly.
"She has inspired generations. She proved [late trainer] Ginger McCain wrong, and she's been the greatest female jockey in the world has ever seen.
"I think all of us can only consider ourselves lucky to have witnessed her achievements in our lifetime.
"She didn't just break glass ceilings. She actually painted the sky.
"National Hunt racing won't be the same without her name in the race card, but it's all the better for having had her there. Rachel Blackmore is an icon, a hero, on and off the track."
Ruby Walsh, one of the few jockeys of recent times to have won even more than Blackmore, told 2fm's Game On: "Rachel Blackmore is unique. We keep saying the first but she is the only woman to have won a Grand National, a Gold Cup, a Champion Hurdle, a Stayers' Hurdle, a Champion Chase. The only woman to be leading rider at the Cheltenham Festival.
"She did what all top sports people do. She made very few mistakes and that's the difference. She was very cool under pressure, calculated under pressure and just didn't get it wrong.
"Rachael was able to make fewer mistakes and that's what made her so good."
"Rachel Blackmore was able to fall and get up quicker than most men, and that's what made her different. She was like an elastic band"
Walsh said he particularly admired ability to handle a fall and recovery from a serious neck injury to complete the sweep of Cheltenham championship races on Bob Olinger this year.
"Being a National Hunt jockey is not an easy life," he said. "It's a tough sport and Rachel was unique.
"Men and women do get to compete on a level playing field but it's the physicality: the falling, the thumps off the ground, the speed of the impacts and being able to pick yourself up
"Rachel Blackmore was able to fall and get up quicker than most men, and that's what made her different. She was like an elastic band.
"So resilient, so tough. Whilst she broke the glass ceiling and proved women can do it, I don't know how many there are like Rachael.
"To win a Grand National is incredible but to watch her come back from a pretty horrific hip injury... and then this year she proved more to me about herself than any of those victories.
"She got a fall in Killarney she described as a neck injury but when a National Hunt jockey walks around for three months in a neck brace you can be damn sure there's something broken.
"Being a jockey, you play for pay, if you're out there's no salary. She worked herself back into the position that was hers and came back to Cheltenham this year and won.
"With all she had achieved, she still had to start again and she did and got herself back to the very top. To take that dent in confidence and get back to where you were, I admire that."