The Irish jockey without a racing background has cleared a lot of obstacles. Will she be the first female Gold Cup winner?
When Shark Hanlon booked Rachael Blackmore, a 21-year-old conditional without a winner under Rules to her name, to ride Stowaway Pearl in a handicap hurdle at Thurles in February 2011, he thought it best that she did not know there was more than just the prize money at stake.
“At the time, she wasn’t working for me,” Hanlon said this week. “It was [leading jockey] Davy Russell who recommended her.
