First, she won races that no female jockey had won before. Next, she crossed off career-defining achievements for any rider, in any generation. And on Saturday, when she rides Minella Times in the Grand National at Aintree, Rachael Blackmore could move on to the once-a-century stuff.
Tony McCoy, in 1997, was the last jockey before Blackmore to win the Champion Hurdle and Gold Cup at the same Cheltenham Festival, so it is 25 years since there has been any need to delve through National Hunt’s history books, to confirm whether a jockey has ever won the Grand National too in the same season.
