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11 photos that sum up the brilliance of Rachael Blackmore's historic career

The legendary Blackmore, 35, announced her retirement from racing on Monday afternoon.

1. Rachael Blackmore started her historic rise by becoming the first woman to win the Irish champion conditional title in 2017

champion-conditional-rider-rachael-blackmore Lorraine O'Sullivan / INPHO Lorraine O'Sullivan / INPHO / INPHO

2. Her first Cheltenham Festival winner came in 2019 on board A Plus Tard in the Close Brothers Novices’ Chase…

rachael-blackmore-onboard-a-plus-tard-celebrates-winning Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO

3. And her second quickly followed, winning the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle on Minella Indo later that week

rachael-blackmore-onboard-minella-indo-celebrates-winning Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO

4. She steered Honeysuckle to the first part of an Irish Champion Hurdle hat-trick in 2020…

rachael-blackmore-winner-aboard-honeysuckle-in-the-the-pci-irish-champion-hurdle Tom O'Hanlon / INPHO Tom O'Hanlon / INPHO / INPHO

5. And had one of her greatest days on board the same horse in 2021 when Honeysuckle won the Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival

rachael-blackmore-onboard-honeysuckle-comes-home-to-win Mark Cranham / INPHO Mark Cranham / INPHO / INPHO

6. She finished the week with five more wins on Bob Olinger, Sir Gerhard, Allaho, Telmesomethinggirl and Quilixios to become the first woman to win the Cheltenham Festival’s leading jockey title

rachael-blackmore-on-sir-gerhard-comes-home-to-win Mark Cranham / INPHO Mark Cranham / INPHO / INPHO

7. A few weeks later, Blackmore ensured another momentous first as she steered Minella Times to the Aintree Grand National – the first female jockey to win the race

jockey-rachael-blackmore-celebrates-winning-the-randox-grand-national-handicap-chase-on-minella-times-during-grand-national-day-of-the-2021-randox-health-grand-national-festival-at-aintree-racecourse Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

8. Blackmore and Honeysuckle went back to the Cheltenham Festival in 2022 and defended their Champion Hurdle title…

rachael-blackmore-celebrates-winning-with-honeysuckle Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO

9. And then she added yet another historic first — becoming the first woman to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup on board A Plus Tard

rachael-blackmore-onboard-a-plus-tard-celebrates-winning Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO

10. She won the Queen Mother Champion Chase with Captain Guinness in 2024…

rachael-blackmore-and-queen-camilla-parker-bowles Tom Maher / INPHO Tom Maher / INPHO / INPHO

11. Before signing off on her groundbreaking career with her 18th and final Cheltenham Festival winner on board Bob Olinger in the 2025 Stayers’ Hurdle, completing the full set of Cheltenham’s championship races

rachael-blackmore-onboard-bob-olinger-celebrates-winning Tom Maher / INPHO Tom Maher / INPHO / INPHO

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