Grounded Blackmore hitting her straps

PERHAPS the most notable aspect of Rachael Blackmore’s landmark achievement at Tramore on Wednesday, when she recorded her first double as a professional jockey on board Most Honourable and Oisin James, was her measured response.

Jump jockeys are fairly grounded as a rule. The knowledge that you are one fall away from being carted off in one of the two ambulances that follow you around in the course of your work, allied with the fact that falls and defeat are a certainty, tend to have that effect.

But this was a significant milestone for someone who became Ireland’s only female professional jump jockey in March 2015.

It took six months to ride her first winner - there had been four frustrating runner-up finishes in that period. It was Most Honourable who broke the duck at Clonmel, having provided Andy McNamara with a winner in his last ride three weeks previously. Purchased for just €600, it is little wonder he is the stable pet.

Since then, Blackmore has slowly established herself as a dependable customer, offering the bonus of being able to claim off a light weight and considered tremendous value for that. The double was another step forward and should increase her attraction to trainers.

While riding every weekend on the point-to-point circuit, and picking up a few spins in bumpers, the Killenaule native was toiling. The amateur scene is ridiculously competitive with Patrick Mullins, Nina Carberry and Katie Walsh just some of the elite operators riding in bumpers, and the incomparable Derek O’Connor and Jamie Codd dominating the pointing scene. These are professionals in all but name.

Turning pro would provide more opportunities. In the 2015/2016 campaign, she had 170 rides that yielded six winners. In the previous five seasons, she had a grand total of 143 rides on the track and five winners. She also had a cross-channel winner in Stratford last October.

Ignore the win-loss ratio, not least because Blackmore doesn’t ride many favourites. This move was about getting rides. The competitor wants winners and they provide added income as well as increasing a jockey’s appeal. But when you were struggling to pay the bills and considering an alternative career, but now have a decent weekly wage, getting a regular leg up is the bottom line.

“To ride a double on the track is a big deal for me” said Blackmore the following day. “I thought they both had an each-way chance but never envisaged that they’d both win.

“The main reason I turned pro was because ‘Shark’ Hanlon, who I work for, said he’d have a lot more opportunities for me if I did turn, because I was light enough and had the claim. I’d nothing to lose.

“Most of the rides are lighter weights. It’s a big bonus being able to claim off 9-10. A lot of people who gave me rides as an amateur supported me. People have been good. Garry Cribbin is my agent and he has done a great job.

“It’s about finding your own niche in the industry.”

It is a pragmatic approach but don’t go overboard with the praise please. The 62/1 brace was great, the decision has paid off, but ambitious people strive for more. The 26-year-old wouldn’t mind more outside rides and more winners.

“It’s never going well enough but I can’t complain. It’s the best year of riding I’ve had but I still have my seven-pound claim. It’s not like I’m riding winners every week. It could always be going better.”

Another advantage of turning pro is that her mother can watch on television. It eliminates the anxiety that goes with waiting for a call to confirm her daughter is unscathed. For this is a job that has claimed lives and where serious injury is just around the corner – Jason Maguire’s enforced retirement this week offering just another reminder.

The falls are hard on men. They are harder on women. It is why Blackmore is the first of her gender to take the plunge since Maria Cullen in the 1980s, why Carberry and Walsh consistently scoffed at the notion as they blazed a trail in their early-to-mid 20s. But Blackmore’s circumstances were completely different.

“Nina and Katie never had to turn because they were getting on fantastically as amateurs whereas I wasn’t. I had to turn to get the rides. The falls are hard. It’s obviously going to be tougher for girls. Genetically that’s the way it’s going to be but touch wood, I’m okay so far so hopefully I can just stay safe.”

And anyway, you have falls in point-to-pointing too. There have been the usual ‘normal’ injuries (broken collarbones are mere nuisances in this trade) but apart from a bad head injury at the beginning of her career, she has managed to stay relatively sound.

Hanlon’s support has been integral. He provided Blackmore with her first winner (Stowaway Pearl) in a ladies handicap hurdle in Thurles in 2011. The trainer was stuck and Davy Russell recommended her, having been impressed when encountering her riding out at Pat Doyle’s during her stint studying for an equine science degree in UL.

She has since added a business diploma in Griffith College but the goals now are all related to racing.

“I’d love to get those four more winners (to become a five-pound claimer), to ride more than the six winners I had in Ireland last season. It’s like everyone else riding. Everyone wants to do better than they did before, to keep improving.”

Ironically, the reduction of her claim and if she loses it in time, may remove some of her lustre. It is the usual conundrum for up-and-comers but Blackmore isn’t a callow youth and she will always be able to do light. If she has ridden enough winners to get to that stage, she will be happy to take her chances.

“I was probably never going to lose my claim if I stayed an amateur. Or it was going to take me a very long time. So the fact that I could be close to losing seven now shows it was the right move – that was my main aim when I turned and hopefully it will happen sooner rather than later.

“There’s not a jockey in the weigh room that doesn’t want to be riding winners. That’s what it’s all about.”

A version of this article appeared first in The Irish Mail On Sunday in May 2016, after Rachael had ridden her first double. Today's double at Down Royal brings her to 22 winners for the season and gives her a four-winner lead over Donagh Meyler in the race to be champion conditional.