Rachael Blackmore and Honeysuckle retained their Champion Hurdle crown on day one at Cheltenham
(Picture: REUTERS)Rachael Blackmore typified the highs and lows of the Cheltenham Festival in the space of a few minutes on day one.
First, she was greeted with raucous support as Honeysuckle lived up to a pre-favourite billing in the Champion Hurdle. Then in the very next race, she was sent cartwheeling off Telemesomethinggirl in a nasty-looking fall in which both jockey and horse did well to come away relatively unscathed.
As Blackmore, the champion jockey from last year’s Festival, does she simply dusted herself off to prepare for the next challenge.
A winning start is the perfect stepping stone to a defence of that title – a year ago her six winners saw her dominate the event – and she admitted the feel to the place has been altogether different with the crowds allowed back.
“This is such a special place,” she said. “The reception we got the whole way down the straight, you know we missed the crowd last year. To have them back, it’s just unbelievable.
“I wish I had the English vocabulary to explain what that felt like. You know, last year was fantastic and we were delighted to be here. But Cheltenham is about the people and they really didn’t let us down.”
As the Irish contingent, in particular – although Blackmore transcends the Irish Sea in terms of her support – whooped and hollered, Blackmore’s mother described it as the perfect antidote to the current ills of the world.
Eimir, a school teacher who was among those watching from the stands, said: “I am very proud that she has given people something to cheer about at a time when there is a lot of unhappiness in the world.”
Blackmore and trainer Henry de Bromhead are once again reuniting for four opportunities at Cheltenham today, perhaps most notably with Envoi Allen among those trying to halt Shishkin in the Queen Mother Champion Chase.
For De Bromhead’s part, he was still relishing the partnership between Blackmore and Honeysuckle, for whom this was a 15th win in her career and a second in the Champion Hurdle.
He said: “Rachael had so much horse underneath her going to the second last she was going to be able to take her back to the inside. They’re just a dream team. Yes, it’s pressure, I put myself under pressure but these are the races you want to be competing in.
“There are various views out there but you try winning Grand Ones. She deserves all the credit just for staying fit and sound.”
