Eyes of the world fixed on Blackmore as she tries to make lightning strike twice
She came, she saw and, boy, did she conquer, but can she do it again? Rachael Blackmore came into last year's festival a role model, she left it a legend.
It has never been about gender for Blackmore but the fact of the matter is she was the first female jockey to be leading rider at the Cheltenham Festival. It was an astonishing feat achieved by an astonishing sportsperson.
The awards were rightly showered upon her at the end of last year – BBC Sports Personality World Sport Star of the Year, RTÉ Sportsperson of the Year, the Irish Times' Ireland Sportswoman of the Year and the Horse Racing Ireland Irish Racing Hero. The year 2021 was the year of Blackmore.
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