world\u2019s most famous horse race<\/a> in front of a TV audience of 600 million across 170 countries.<\/p>\nRachael, 36, said as an 11-year-old she used to ride her pony around the garden leaping over piles of grass dreaming she was racing to victory at Aintree.<\/p>\n
As she crossed the finishing line first for real on Minella Times in 2021 she felt so much \u2018sheer elation\u2019 she thought she was \u2018going to burst\u2019.<\/p>\n
![\"Former](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1_Cheltenham-Festival-2026-Champion-Day-Cheltenham-Racecourse.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Rachel Blackmore (Image: PA)<\/p>\n
The jockey, who is also the only woman to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup, retired last year and is expecting a baby shortly after this year\u2019s Grand National on Saturday.<\/p>\n
In an exclusive interview with the Daily Star, Rachael – now the official face of Ladies\u2019 Day – said she hopes her legacy will be to inspire a future generation of female jockeys to follow her lead to the Grand National winners\u2019 enclosure.<\/p>\n
She said of the major events in her life so far – winning two of the world\u2019s biggest horse races and walking up the aisle – winning the National was \u2018on a different planet\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cGetting married is solid bottom of the list,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t tell Brian! Actually I don\u2019t think he\u2019d care. Getting married is brilliant but nothing can compare to winning.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you gave him the choice \u2018you can marry Rachael in January or you can win the Gold Cup in March\u2019 I know what one he\u2019d choose. Getting married is bottom of the pile.<\/p>\n
![\"Rachael](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0_Screenshot-2026-02-07-150905.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Rachael Blackmore and Brian Hayes on their wedding day(Image: blackmorerachael \/ Instagram)<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Grand National – it\u2019s just very hard to get away from it. That was an incredible day.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the history. It\u2019s the first race you watch as a kid. It\u2019s the first race that sparked my interest in racing. I went out on my pony and it was the Grand National I was thinking about. It just is that race. It has that special angle to it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe year I won it was unbelievable. It was the Covid year so it was behind closed doors so unfortunately the crowd wasn\u2019t there.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut to me it was just the most special day ever because everyone that was there – it\u2019s like they went to an extra effort to clap and to say \u2018well done\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat feeling crossing the line was one of the most amazing feelings I\u2019ve ever experienced in my life of just sheer elation straight away.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Cheltenham Honeysuckle wins the Champion Hurdle. She\u2019s favourite. You cross the line – it\u2019s relief. I\u2019ve delivered. It\u2019s so different in the National because you go out hoping and thinking and dreaming.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you never actually think it could happen. And then it does.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone is kind of aware of how much luck you need.<\/p>\n
![\"Rachael](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0_Racing-Blackmore-Retires-25132679335771.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Rachael Blackmore celebrates winning the 2021 Grand National on Minella Times(Image: AP)<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t remember thinking \u2018race tactics\u2019. It\u2019s more survival. Get your horse into a rhythm, conserve as much energy as you can.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou need a lot of things to align for you. Then when you cross the line and it\u2019s actually happened – oh my God!<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt like I was going to burst or something. It was just an incredible incredible feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n
Modest Rachael, who won the Gold Cup on A Plus Tard the year after her Grand National triumph, said she still cannot believe she is one of the few jockeys who can choose if she preferred winning at Cheltenham or Aintree.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s so weird,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m someone who gets to decide \u2018which did you find better winning the Grand National or the Gold Cup\u2019. I still find that funny.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s incredible to be one of those jockeys that can be asked that question.<\/p>\n
\u201cWinning the Grand National it was such an incredible testament to all those women who went before me.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not that long ago that women weren\u2019t allowed to even ride in the race.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Rachael](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0_Cheltenham-Racing-Festival-Day-two-Cheltenham-Gloucestershire.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Mum-to-be Rachael returned to Cheltenham as face of Ladies Day(Image: Jules Annan \/ Avalon)<\/p>\n
When she dramatically hung up her racing boots last May she had notched up 575 winners – including 18 at Cheltenham where she was also the first woman to be the festival\u2019s leading jockey with six victories in 2021.<\/p>\n
Though there are a number of talented female riders in racing so far no has looked close to climbed into her superstar saddle.<\/p>\n
But Rachael believes it is only a matter of time once the legions of schoolgirls who ask her for selfies and autographs are old enough.<\/p>\n
\u201cHas there has been enough of an effect on female riders following my success? I think it\u2019s going to take a little bit more time to kind of really feel that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are inspired by what other people achieve. I was inspired by other jockeys and other athletes in general so that has a knock on effect.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I think it could have an impact for those children maybe 10, 11, 12. They\u2019re not there yet.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that all could just take a little bit longer. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s an instant overnight thing. I think it could take a bit more time.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I\u2019d love it happen.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE: Super jockey Rachael Blackmore said her wedding day was ‘brilliant’ but it was ‘bottom of the pile’…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":876596,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4107],"tags":[110690,390,287,288,378,1071,79,37143,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-876595","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-racing","8":"tag-cheltenham","9":"tag-family","10":"tag-grand-national","11":"tag-horse-racing","12":"tag-in-the-news","13":"tag-racing","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-the-inside-track-horse-racing","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116359881863006425","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/876595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=876595"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/876595\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/876596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=876595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=876595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=876595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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