Rachael Blackmore is a star of horse racing in Britain & Ireland and one of the world’s highest achieving sportswomen. But it wasn’t always like this - in her own words her amateur career barely got off the ground and she only turned pro at the age of 25 (much later than many other jockeys) in an attempt to kickstart her progress. Even then, her first winner took a while to arrive and she had plenty of opportunities to doubt herself. Rachael's story is one of persistence and patience, both in persuading leading trainers to give her a chance on decent horses and retaining her belief that she had the ability to succeed.
She has since ridden well over 400 winners from more than 3,500 rides and starred in the last two Cheltenham festivals (the Olympics of jump racing), with an incredible 6 winners last year and three more, including both the Gold Cup and the Champion Hurdle, when the crowds returned post-COVID this year.
A trailblazer for women in her sport - albeit much too humble to speak of her achievements in those terms - in 2021 she became the first woman to win the Grand National in its 180 year history and followed that up this year as the first female winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
This episode is not just for horse racing fans but anyone with an interest in top-level sport and high performance. Rachael discusses her training methods, how she analyses a race in advance and then adapts as it unfolds in real-time, the toughness required to deal with falling off a horse (regularly) at 30mph and the pressures and expectations that come with success. We also explore what makes a great jockey, how she has improved during her career and the addictive nature of riding winners...