Blackmore riding National high following landmark victory Mon 12 Apr 2021 Grand National winner Rachael Blackmore has admitted that she was unable to sleep on Saturday night as she re-lived her Aintree heroics. Just weeks after breaking boundaries at the Cheltenham Festival, by being crowned the leading rider in the Cotswolds, Blackmore outdid even that on Merseyside. Riding Minella Times in the most famous race in the world, 44 years after Charlotte Brew (now Budd) partnered the 250-1 shot Barony Fort to become the first female to ride in the race, Blackmore created history. While she would rather not focus on the issue of gender, she acknowledges that whatever she had previously achieved in her career, the recognition as a Grand National winner is on a completely different level.