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‘A very cool moment for me' – Rachael Blackmore left emotional at last day of RDS Horse Show
Her connection to one of them traces all the way back to her teenage years
LIFELONG LOVE 'A very cool moment for me' – Rachael Blackmore left emotional at last day of RDS Horse Show
RACHAEL Blackmore had a "very cool moment" at the RDS Horse Show as two star runners from her past said hello to one another.
Among Blackmore's most celebrated wins was the 2022 Cheltenham Gold Cup which came onboard A Plus Tard.
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Blackmore hung up her stirrups in May
Credit: @blackmorerachael
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The Tipperary woman shared footage of her winning onboard Tommy when she was only 15
Credit: @blackmorerachael
And while not quite as big time of an outing, she's clearly also still got a special place in her heart for Tommy - whom she rode to victory in a 2004 pony race.
Sharing a pic of them together, she reflected: "Very cool moment for me at the RDS yesterday.
"A Plus Tard, winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup 2022, says hi to Tommy, Clashmealcon 13.2h Pony Race winner 2004."
The heartwarming Instagram post was a welcome sight to her 63k followers. One fan labelled it: "The best rendezvous ever!"
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Meanwhile Rae gushed: "So cute!!!!" Lastly, Shannie noted: "Wow, Tommy has aged well."
Blackmore, 36, is still adjusting to her jockey career being over having only retired in May.
But she has sounded content with her decision in interviews since then as she's noted how she's gotten to treat herself far more this summer than in previous years.
Clearly her schedule is far more flexible than it was over her years of relentless riding bookings throughout the arduous racing calendar.
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The most evident example of that is that she was not even in Ballybrit while the Galway Races were on.
Instead, she popped up in Goodwood where she acquiesced to ITV's request for an impromptu interview.
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In it, she underlined: "Retirement's going well. I'm enjoying it so far and I'm doing a lot of things I probably haven't been able to do for the last few years.
"This week is definitely very different as I'm not heading to Ballybrit. The Oasis tickets have been purchased and I'm seeing them next month.
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"I'm doing all those things you have to say no to as a jockey, like all those invites to friends' barbecues and other things. There's pluses to retirement too."
The chat then took a more reflective tone as she was quizzed on whether she's now at the stage in her life that her place in the history books has fully sank in.
MAGIC MOMENTS
She acknowledged: "It's incredible to look now at everything and really take it all in.
"There's so many moments that were such joy and elation. Having my first winner on A Plus Tard at Cheltenham was just phenomenal.
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"Henry De Bromhead put lots of faith in me and it was a good job I delivered because he was a Gold Cup winner in waiting.
"Honeysuckle's last win (in the Mares' Hurdle) was sensational. It was something I'll never, ever forget. It was phenomenal.
"The moment of crossing the line in the Grand National I felt I could burst with joy too. There were so many moments and I was so lucky."
The discussion then jumped ahead to her future plans with the Tipperary native yet to make any definitive public utterances about what she plans to do next.
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She added: "It was a difficult decision (to retire), but I wanted it to be a hard decision. I thought after Cork that if my aim wasn't to get back to Cheltenham, then maybe it was time to stop.
"When I was riding I never wanted to spend any time thinking about what I wanted to do when I finished. I'll do that over the summer and figure it out."
