Rachael Blackmore makes history as the first female Cheltenham Festival Champion Hurdle-winning jockey
Rachael Blackmore has made history with victory in the Unibet Champion Hurdle aboard Honeysuckle at Cheltenham - becoming the first female jockey to win the great race.
Speaking to ITV Racing, she said: "It doesn't matter what you are we're jockeys, we win races and it's just a privilege to be here."
"I'm speechless," she said after her win. "It's incredible, I can't believe we've just won the Champion Hurdle."
Just the second woman to hold a professional licence in Irish National Hunt racing, Blackmore has been making headlines since switching from the amateur ranks in March 2015.
Blackmore had ponies as a child in County Tipperary, but did not hail from a racing family - the daughter of a dairy farmer and a school teacher.
After harbouring early hopes of being a vet, she eventually gained a degree in equine science, combining her studies with riding out and competing as an amateur
After riding her first winner for John ‘Shark’ Hanlon at Thurles in February 2011, she went on to take her first professional victory at Clonmel on September 3, 2015.
That was to prove the springboard for what has been an already exceptional career.
A first major success came aboard Abolitionist in the 2017 Leinster National Handicap Chase, a season which also saw Blackmore become the first female champion conditional rider in Ireland - with 32 winners to her credit.
Lucy Alexander had completed the feat in Britain a couple of years earlier.
Video report by ITV News Wales & West of England Correspondent Rupert Evelyn
But with less racing in Ireland and a system which allows only amateurs to compete on the lucrative bumper circuit, Blackmore’s decision could easily have backfired.
From there, some of the best trainers in Ireland have queued up to make use of Blackmore’s services - resulting in the 31-year-old finishing in the top three in the Irish championship for the last two seasons.
A link-up with Henry de Bromhead has undoubtedly been her most valuable association to date, and the top trainer has had no hesitation in giving her the leg-up on his stable stars.
She had 12 top-level victories on her CV at the start of this year’s Festival – with the bulk of those provided by supermare Honeysuckle.
While two Irish Champion Hurdles will no doubt have a special place in the rider’s heart, her achievement in winning the Cheltenham version on Tuesday should not be underestimated.
To be the first woman to win in the race’s near 100-year history is extraordinary.
She may not relish any fuss being made of her gender, having previously said: "I think if you’re a jockey, male or female, you have to work just as hard."
But there is no doubt Blackmore has put in the hard yards, with Tuesday's win another fine reward for a quiet pioneer of the jumping world.