Jockey Rachael Blackmore, boyfriend Brian Hayes and rival rider Patrick Mullins all share a house at home and abroad

9 months ago 94

IT is a week that is a full year in the making.

When plans and details drawn months in advance are put to the ultimate test.

One Rachael Blackmore has made a habit of passing with flying colours.

CHELTENHAM BETTING OFFERS – BEST FREE BET DEALS FOR THE FESTIVAL

And, on the eve of jump racing’s showpiece of superstars, is very likely to do so again.

Only this one isn’t about Gold Cup glory, Champion Hurdle heroics or top jockey triumph. More of that to come.

This is 48 hours before the tapes go up for the Supreme.

The moment three amigos — Rachael, Brian Hayes and Patrick Mullins — walk into the house that will be their Festival home.

When the door swings open and they discover if the Festival’s golden girl is as good at the crucial challenge of finding the right Cheltenham base as she is at booting home winners.

And for the history-making, record-breaking Princess of Prestbury Park, the preparations are just as meticulous, believe me.

A point she was keen to make as we sat to discuss her prospects of adding to a haul of 14 Festival victories.

For the time being the likes of Envoi Allen, Monty’s Star and Slade Steel — just three in a glittering book of rides — could wait.

This was about her “other” role as lodgings locator for the trio who share a house in County Carlow and do the same for the Olympics of National Hunt.

Rachael revealed: “Booking the right place is very important to us and all down to me.

“That’s my job and a lot goes into it — there could be a whole separate article just on that. We rent a house right beside the track, so you can walk to the course in the morning.

“It’s like moving my own entire life from Ireland over here, with a similar routine.

“It is always the three of us and always about a four minute walk from the yard, so we can walk in, ride out, come home for an hour or two, get changed and go back for the races.

“I love not having to drive in and out, not worrying about traffic. It’s about having that reassurance so a lot of work goes into finding the right place to stay.”

To be fair, when it comes to the Festival, there isn’t much Blackmore, 34, has got wrong in recent years.

The first female to win the Gold Cup on A Plus Tard, the Champion Hurdle on Honeysuckle — twice in fact — and only Ruby Walsh has bettered than her top-jockey total of six in 2021.

She has come a long way since her first visit as a 21-year-old with her mates, when the racing was followed by nights at Cheltenham’s famous 21 Club.

These days Blackmore is the Festival’s big draw, so successful her gender long ceased making headlines, with a CV also including the 2021 Grand National, and even an MBE.

For the shy girl from Killenaule, Tipperary, who would prefer to shun the spotlight, handling all the attention was — initially — nowhere near as easy as handling half a ton of horseflesh.

Unfailingly polite and charming, but a necessary evil. The Paul Scholes of horse racing, you could say. Something that brought a broad smile when it was put to her.

Back in the day he was the ringmaster of a Manchester United side that ruled the waves. One of the world’s top footballers, but for the media, an interview-free zone.

Old Trafford street traders did a roaring trade in Scholes shirts, with his mug and the slogan “Get up, go to work, play the game, get showered, go home”.

There was a time they could have made a Rachael replica, replacing that bit about the game with the words “ride a winner”. She chuckles at the thought.

But while it took retirement for Scholes to find his voice, Blackmore — like her career as Henry de Bromhead’s stable jockey — gets better every year.

She admitted: “I suppose it’s not the thing I look forward to most! But the fact you want to talk to me tells me it’s where I want to be in a way.

“People want to talk to me because I’ve been successful, because I’ve got good rides, so you roll with it.

“But the best part of my day will always be getting legged up on favourite, getting legged up on a Honeysuckle. That’s the best part.

“I was 25 when I turned professional, older than many, and had a lot of practice at losing. I knew what it felt for things not to go well so appreciated it when they did.

“I never see this life as a sacrifice or take it for granted, I just feel incredibly lucky to ride the calibre of horses I do. I just love racing and I just want to ride winners.”

Betfair run the ‘Rachael Blackmore Serial Winners Fund’, in aid of the Injured Jockey Funds in Britain and Ireland. They kicked off the fund with a £100,000 donation and add a further £5,000 every time Rachael rides a winner. The fund is expected to reach £250,000 by the time it closes on Grand National Day April 13.