Rachael Blackmore: Historic Grand National triumph for modest trailblazer
By Frank KeoghBBC Sport at Aintree
Last updated on
Blackmore was the first woman to be leading jockey at last month s Cheltenham Festival
Like countless young pony riders, Rachael Blackmore watched the film National Velvet starring Elizabeth Taylor and dreamed of one day winning the Grand National.
On 10 April 2021 she made fantasy a reality. The first female jockey to triumph in the world s most famous steeplechase, with a stirring victory on Minella Times. National Velvet was definitely something that would have been on the television when we were growing up. I ve got no punchy line to go with it, she told me.
As a little girl, Rachael Blackmore never dreamed she would be the first woman to win Grand National
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Blackmore 1st Woman to Win Grand National Horse Race
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“I never even imagined I d get a ride in this race, never mind get my hands on the trophy, Blackmore said. After all, the 1944 Hollywood movie “National Velvet” was the story of a 12-year-old girl, Velvet Brown – played by a young Elizabeth Taylor – who won the Grand National on The Pie, a gelding she won in a raffle and one she decided to train for the world s biggest horse race. In the story, Brown was later disqualified on a technicality, having dismounted before reaching the enclosure. Even though Aintree was without race-goers because of the pandemic, cheers rang out as Blackmore made her way off the course – still aboard Minella Times – and into the winner s enclosure. She looked as if she couldn t believe what she had done.