Rachael Blackmore delivers sublime Cheltenham Gold Cup ride on A Plus Tard

Friday: Cheltenham Gold Cup, Cheltenham

On a gleeful sun-kissed Cotswolds afternoon, Rachael Blackmore executed one of the most daring Gold Cup rides imaginable to avenge last year’s narrow defeat and scale the sport’s ultimate summit with an utterly mesmerising triumph on A Plus Tard.

By the time they crossed the line, they had soared 15 lengths clear of Minella Indo, spectacularly turning the tables on their 2021 conqueror. The result meant Henry de Bromhead had saddled the first two home in the Gold Cup in successive years, in the process becoming the first trainer to complete back-to-back Champion Hurdle and Gold Cup doubles since Vincent O’Brien, who did it with Hatton’s Grace and Cottage Rake in 1949 and 1950.

De Bromhead’s continued excellence is something to behold, but he is happy to play a supporting role in this particular blockbuster. Blackmore is the Hollywood superstar who continues to steal the show, because, while the margin of victory was emphatic – the widest since Master Oats gruelling demolition in 1995 – the numbers don’t convey the majesty of what was a steer from the gods.

Blackmore has been a revelation over the past 12 months, ticking off seismic slices of history with the unflustered calm of a clerical worker while the world has erupted in bedlam around her. The noise never interested her.

She has become the first female jockey to win the Champion Hurdle, the Grand National and become leading rider at the Cheltenham Festival, but there was unfinished business.

Like every elite sportsperson, it was the one that got away that haunted the 32-year-old. The memory of A Plus Tard’s narrow defeat in last year's Gold Cup has been a stubborn asterisk, and her hurt was exacerbated by the fact she could have ridden the winner.

“It has not quite been every day you’d be thinking about it – I’d be gone mad – but it is definitely in the back of your mind as this is what the whole week is about and what you are working for,” she replied when subsequently asked how much the defeat had consumed her.

It certainly hasn’t been an entirely smooth passage back to Prestbury Park for the Cheveley Park Stud-owned eight-year-old, but in victory and defeat along the way, Blackmore learned something new about herself and her mount. Getting beaten by Galvin in the Savills Chase was the last and maybe most lasting lesson.

She rolled back into Cheltenham with a new blueprint and delivered it to perfection, dropping A Plus Tard right in, biding her time and riding for a bit of luck. She trusted she was on the best horse and conspired to give him the best chance.

As the race began to unfold down the hill, with Minella Indo leading three-out from fellow returning hero Al Boum Photo, Blackmore had five horses in front of her and no daylight.

It was exactly where she wanted to be. She ghosted in behind Al Boum Photo, daring to do no more than she had to stay within striking distance.

Five strides before the second-last fence, she still had five horses in front of her. Then she finally pressed go, got a split between Al Boum Photo and Protektorat, and began her latest ascent to immortality.

Minella Indo still had to be claimed, but the momentum of destiny had it all covered. A Plus Tard took the final fence upsides before bounding up the hill to set the record straight and justify odds of 3-1 favouritism, with Protektorat faring best of the home team, a couple of lengths behind the gallant Minella Indo in third.

While the winning ride was a sensational turn, the horse was also exceptional. In A Plus Tard, Blackmore had a partner worthy of her own magnificence, but the ride brought out the best in him.

“I suppose I didn’t want to do the same thing as last year as it didn’t work,” she explained. “The wall of horses in front of me made sure I didn’t get there too soon, but he felt very happy throughout the race this year and jumped fantastically, and I was able to take him back a little bit everywhere.

“Thankfully he was good over the last two fences and he picked up incredibly over the last. It is an incredible feeling when you do that over the back of the last at Cheltenham.

“These are such special days and I wouldn’t swap the Grand National for anything, but this is the Gold Cup. He is a very talented horse and I’m very lucky to be on him.”

When it was put to her that she showed remarkable nerve to delay her challenge so coolly, she added: “I was happy if I was going to get beaten for doing something different as opposed to being in the position I was in last year, as that definitely didn’t work. I was taking my luck and we got the split. It’s just incredible.”

Rachael Blackmore takes the last on A Plus Tard in the Cheltenham Gold Cup on FridayCredit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images)

As was the case on Tuesday when she surfed back in aboard Honeysuckle on a wave of euphoria as the returning Cheltenham crowd roared their appreciation of jump racing’s box office star, Blackmore brought the house down again. The stands came alive and the reception she and A Plus Tard got in the winner’s enclosure was heartfelt and guttural.

“Cheltenham is such a special place, but it is so special because of the atmosphere and the people,” she said. “To have that roar back and to get to walk back in when you can’t see space and you can just see bodies is just incredible. It is the closest thing to feeling like a rock star you will ever feel without being able to sing. It is just incredible to have people back and I feel very, very lucky.”

Lucky really is how those of us fortunate to share her orbit feel, for there’s little doubt we are in the presence of greatness. Remember, the last rider to complete the Champion Hurdle-Gold Cup brace was a certain Tony McCoy in 1997.

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Blackmore now exists in that exalted realm, and De Bromhead knows it better than anyone.

“This is the stuff you dream about, and we’re just so lucky to have her – she is a savage rider,” he said, before adding of the tactical evolution. “To be honest I didn’t question any of it too much, but Rachael said to me about three weeks ago that she was kicking herself and she wanted to ride him to use his pace. Robbie was brilliant on Indo as well – he did nothing wrong.”

He added: “It’s been a ridiculous year. Everyone’s been telling me how bad my horses are going, so we’ve had a few bad months as well! Even a couple of runners this week have made me wonder if there’s a problem, but then you see Honey and this guy – they were unreal.”

That they were – and so was he. It’s a little footnote that should not be lost in the rush to acclaim Blackmore. They are a sumptuous team.

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'We're so lucky' – McCoy and Walsh lead plaudits for Gold Cup winner Blackmore

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