Rachael Blackmore will be honoured with the 2021 Irish Racing Hero Award at the annual Horse Racing Ireland Awards next month.
Earlier this year, Rachael’s pioneering exploits were hailed the world over and her achievements went hand-in-hand with an incredible period and unprecedented success for Irish-trained, Irish-ridden, and Irish-bred horses.
Rachael was simply brilliant at the Cheltenham Festival in March where she became the first woman to claim the Leading Jockey award with six winners, a figure that has only been topped by Ruby Walsh.
From Tuesday’s Champion Hurdle success on Honeysuckle, right through to Friday’s Triumph Hurdle victory on Quilixios, the Killenaule native dominated on the track. She recorded doubles on the middle days of the festival; winning on both Bob Olinger and Sir Gerhard on Wednesday and on Allaho and Telmesomethinggirl the following afternoon.
Rachael’s head-lining act reached new levels at Aintree only weeks later where she truly ascended into superstar status.
She became the first woman to ride the winner of the iconic Grand National with her success on Minella Times described as “historic” by President Michael D Higgins.
Rachael will be presented with her 2021 Irish Racing Hero Award at the annual Horse Racing Ireland Awards in early December.
Nominations for the remaining awards categories, Horse of the Year, National Hunt Award, National Hunt Achievement Award, Flat Award, Flat Achievement Award, Point-to-Point Award, and the Emerging Talent Award will be announced tomorrow (Thursday).