Rachael Blackmore has spoken out for the first time since retiring from the saddle earlier this month. The jockey has now revealed that she will be taking some time before considering her next move.
Blackmore brought the curtain down on her career after an impressive victory aboard Ma Belle Etoile at Cork, bowing out with 575 wins to her name in 4,566 races. The 35-year-old has now revealed that her retirement decision largely hinged on whether Ma Belle Etoile was victorious, having only considered retirement for the first time just a few months prior at the Cheltenham Festival.
Speaking for the first time since her announcement on X, Blackmore has opened up on the decision to Betfair, saying: “When I was leaving the weighing room at Cheltenham on Friday this year, For the first time I just had a little thought in my head: ‘Will I be back here next season?’
“It was the first time that thought had ever crept into my head. I didn’t know. Part of me thought I would be back, part of me thought I wouldn’t. I just said to myself leave it [the decision] until June and get to the jockey’s break. I’d think about it all then.
“I was going to Cork the other day [to ride Ma Belle Etoile] and I thought: ‘If this one wins then maybe that’s the time to call it.’ She won and, the following morning, I fully decided that was it.”
Following her retirement, questions were quickly asked about what’s next for the heroic jockey given that she is now likely to be offered the chance to head into several different lines of work, having recently released a children’s book but also impressed when speaking to the media.
However, Blackmore is biding her time and has insisted that she won’t rush into making a decision, saying: “Even though retiring was probably a feeling inside me that I had kind of dampened down.
“It wasn’t part of a massive plan to retire that Saturday, there is nothing set up but I am very lucky that I can take a few weeks and decide what might be next. It will be a very different life to the one I had previously.”
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