Rachael Blackmore made history with a stunning Boodles Gold Cup win on favourite A Plus Tard.
The 3-1 favourite jumped into the lead at the final fence and sprinted 15 lengths clear from Minella Indo (7-1). It was a direct reversal of the placings from last year's renewal, as A Plus Tard finished second to his Henry de Bromhead-trained stablemate.
Blackmore is the first female jockey to win the Gold Cup, the Cheltenham Festival's feature race. It added to her glittering CV, as she was also the last female rider to win the Grand National and Champion Hurdle in 2021. Blackmore said: “I just can’t believe it. I’m so lucky to be getting to ride all these kind of horses. You can’t do this without the horses and being attached to Henry’s yard is just absolutely phenomenal. To give me this horse is unbelievable I don’t know what to say.
“I’ve had so many special days. I wouldn’t swap the Grand National for anything but this is the Gold Cup. I wish I had something better to say right now. I just can’t. You have all these plans about how things are going to work out. Racing doesn’t let that happen all the time and for some reason it’s happened to me today. I just can’t explain how lucky I feel.”
Blackmore bided her time aboard A Plus Tard, who won at the 2019 Festival – and has not been out of the first three in 19 career starts. The pace was set by Asterion Forlonge and on the final circuit, the 11 runners were well grouped.
Blackmore was positioned in mid-pack but had to be patient to make her run on the course specialist. Minella Indo, a strong stayer, was sent for the winning post by Robbie Power as A Plus Tard was brought to the outside.
A tidy jump at the last gave him the momentum – and he showed an impressive change of gear up the famous hill for a stylish victory. A Plus Tard's impressive display added to De Bromhead's tally at the meeting, after Honeysuckle and Bob Olinger also struck at the highest level.
"It's unbelievable," he said. "Rachael was brilliant on him and Robbie was brilliant on Indo. Rachael said she wanted to ride him for his pace and use his pace and she did. Robbie did nothing wrong. It's just amazing. It's the team at home that's brilliant. She's a brilliant rider and I say it over and over, we're so lucky to have her. This is stuff you dream about."
Protektorat (10-1), part-owned by Sir Alex Ferguson, finished third, two-and-a-half lengths behind runner-up Minella Indo. Another of the fancied runners, Galvin, just missed out on the places with a close-up fourth.
