FROM tennis trailblazer Billie Jean King to Beatles drummer Ringo Starr, Rachael Blackmore’s success in the Grand National has been heralded by global icons as she was propelled to front page news around the world after guiding Minella Times to a six-and-a-half-length success at Aintree.

That victory was the culmination of a six-year journey to the top of the sport since she elected to switch from the point-to-point ranks and pursue a career as a professional.

Her final outing in this sphere came at Ballyragget in March 2015 where she won the open aboard Luska Lad for Shark Hanlon before coming a cropper from Michael McCullagh’s Candle Island on her last ride in the pointing fields at what was the end of one chapter of her career – one in which she recorded 11 winners from a total of 176 rides across seven seasons.

Two years before making the move to the professional ranks, Rachael Blackmore was one of a number of riders interviewed in a video feature which resurfaced recently that was filmed around a ladies open at Nenagh back in 2013.

Asked at the time by Maria Dagg as to whether she could see herself continuing with horses full time, or whether she would elect to focus on an area related to her Equine Science studies at the University of Limerick, her response certainly gave no indication of any expectation on her part that such a momentous career in the saddle lay in front of her as she said: “I could see myself working with horses, but in relation to riding, everyone runs out at some stage. You have to be really good to last the time.”

Nallen’s double

The victory of Minella Times also proved to be something of a crowning moment for the eight-year-old’s former handler John Nallen who made headlines of his own having completed a rather remarkable double.

The Clonmel handler not only produced the National winner through point-to-pointing, with the Oscar gelding unlucky to come down at the last in a Belclare four-year-old maiden back in 2017 while holding the initiative, but the victory also came hot on the heels of the Cheltenham Gold Cup success of Minella Indo.

That Beat Hollow gelding also received his early education at Nallen’s pointing academy and these latest successes deservedly saw the popular hotelier’s achievements recognised with multiple appearances on both television and radio in the past week.

Hospitality

The recent suspension of point-to-pointing has been particularly challenging for owners and handlers across the country, but for Nallen the impact of the Covid restrictions have been multiplied by the ongoing shutdown of the hospitality sector and its impacts on his Hotel Minella, home to the point-to-point awards on so many occasions.

Having been one of those handlers active in calling for the resumption of point-to-pointing in recent months, it was undoubtedly fitting that he was among the winners at Cork on the first day of the restart with the impressive Minella Crooner before the National triumph of Minella Times later that same afternoon.

That will unquestionably have been a much-deserved tonic for Nallen after the trials of the past year and he has certainly used his new-found fame to promote the sport declaring: “get the people down to Irish point-to-pointing when the lockdown is over and you will see the future Rachaels and Minella Indos – bring the family along for a tenner,” on the national airwaves.

That is certainly a day we all are looking forward to.