Rachael Blackmore Becomes Grand National Legend at Aintree
Rachael Blackmore will return to Aintree on Thursday not just as a Grand National winner, but as part of the race’s permanent folklore.
The 36-year-old, who shattered one of sport’s longest-standing glass ceilings when she steered Minella Times to victory in 2021, is to be inducted as a Grand National Legend – an honour reserved for the select few who have shaped the story of the world’s most famous steeplechase.
From history-maker to Legend
Blackmore’s win three years ago did more than rewrite the record books. It altered the landscape. No woman had ever won the Grand National before she sent Minella Times surging clear in the green and gold of JP McManus. In one relentless, fearless ride, she forced a centuries-old institution to look different.
On Thursday, Aintree will acknowledge that moment in stone and metal.
Her name will now sit alongside some of the race’s most iconic figures: trainers Ginger McCain and Jenny Pitman, owner JP McManus, and equine immortals such as Red Rum, Tiger Roll and Aldaniti. It is the company of serial winners, of folk heroes, of horses and humans who turned a race into legend.
Each of them, Blackmore included, will be honoured with a plaque at the course, unveiled during a special ceremony on the opening day of the Randox Grand National Festival.
“Winning the Randox Grand National at Aintree on Minella Times is a moment in my life I will never forget,” Blackmore said, reflecting on the recognition. “Seeing my name now included on the list of Grand National Legends is such an honour, I feel very lucky to be part of that history.”
A new bar, a new space – and her name above the door
The tributes will not stop at the Legends board.
Aintree has gone a step further, putting Blackmore’s name above one of its newest facilities. The ceremony will take place at the newly-renamed Blackmore’s Bar, which the rider will officially open herself.
It is a striking twist: a jockey more used to walking into a weighing room now cutting the ribbon on a venue bearing her name at one of racing’s great theatres.
“I’m also looking forward to opening Blackmore’s Bar at the racecourse, something I definitely thought I would never be saying!” she admitted. “It’s a cool idea and something a bit different that people can hopefully enjoy during the week.”
The bar, fittingly for a modern festival crowd, is an alcohol-free space. Racegoers will find Lavazza coffee, fresh bakes, snacks and a selection of alcohol-free drinks – a quieter, more relaxed corner amid the roar and rush of Grand National week.
To mark its opening, the first 100 coffees served on Thursday will be free, a small gesture to draw people through the doors of a venue that signals a subtle shift in how racecourses cater for their public.
‘The earliest opportunity’
For The Jockey Club, the timing of Blackmore’s induction was never in doubt.
“Rachael’s outstanding achievement in the Randox Grand National speaks for itself and it seems only right that she has been made a Grand National Legend at the earliest opportunity,” said Dickon White, the organisation’s north west regional director.
He also underlined why Blackmore’s Bar fits the direction Aintree wants to travel.
“We are also excited by the opening of Blackmore’s Bar on the first day of the Randox Grand National Festival. As an alcohol-free space, it’s a facility that will offer something different and one that our feedback has shown would be welcomed by a number of our racegoers.”
So on Thursday, as the festival bursts into life, Aintree will pause for a moment.
A plaque will be unveiled. A bar will open. A jockey who once walked out to make history will walk back in to see that history etched into the fabric of the place.
The Grand National has a new Legend, and her name is already on the door.
