Rachael Blackmore Exclusive: I started thinking about retirement at Cheltenham Festival

• Blackmore first thought of retirement at Cheltenham Festival in March

• Cork victory confirmed Betfair ambassador was ready to bow out

• First Cheltenham win on A Plus Tard was huge moment in brilliant career

Betair Ambassador Rachael Blackmore got her first thought about retiring at the Cheltenham Festival in March, the former-jockey has revealed in our exclusive interview. 

The Gold Cup and Grand National winner, who announced her decision to call time on her brilliant career in the saddle last week, said: "When I was leaving the weighing room at Cheltenham on Friday this year, For the first time I just had a little thought in my head: 'Will I be back here next season?'

"It was the first time that thought had ever crept into my head. I didn't know. Part of me thought I would be back, part of me thought I wouldn't . I just said to myself leave it [the decision] until June and get to the jockey's break. I'd think about it all then.

Watch the full interview below

Retirement was confirmed by Cork win

In the end, Blackmore brought her decision to retire forward by a few weeks.

She said:  "I was going to Cork the other day [to ride Ma Belle Etoile] and I thought: 'If this one wins then maybe that's the time to call it." 

"She won and, the following morning, I fully decided that was it.

Cheltenham win was what every jockey wants

Blackmore enjoyed a trailblazing career, finishing with 18 wins at the Cheltenham Festival and said of her first victory there on A Plus Tard: "I went over to Cheltenham that year 20192018/1, when I had never ridden a winner there.

"Henry DeBromhead put a lot of faith in me to be able to deliver that week. It was a big moment, a winner at Cheltenham. 

"It is what every jockey wants. An incredible moment." 

Blackmore went on to become the first woman to win the jockeys' title at the 2021 Cheltenham Festival.

A serial winner and record breaker, she became the first woman jockey to win the Aintree Grand National in the same year, while elevating her career in 2022 when taking the Cheltenham Gold Cup, once again aboard A Plus Tard.

This year, Blackmore won the Stayers Hurdle aboard Bob Olinger to complete the grand-slam of feature races across every day of the Cheltenham Festival. 

She paid tribute to the great horses she worked with, saying: "I love horses. They have given me the best days of my life and I have been so lucky to be involved with some of the best ones... You can really want to ride a Cheltenham winner but you are not going to do it if you don't get on horses that are capable of doing that." 

In a wide-ranging conversation, Blackmore also looked back on the early years of her career. 

She said: "I had a lot of practice at losing as an amateur! But I was getting better... Turning conditional [as a professional jockey] was the start of a career change. Becoming champion conditional jockey [in 2017] was a massive moment for me. It still means an awful lot."

What's next for Rachael Blackmore?

As for what the future holds, Blackmore is taking time to let her achievements sink in before she decides on her next move, although she has already written a children's book. 

"Even though retiring was probably a feeling inside me that I had kind of dampened down, it wasn't part of a massive plan to retire that Saturday, there is nothing set up but I am very lucky that I can take a few weeks and decide what might be next". she said.

"It will be a very different life to the one I had previously."

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