Which horse will Rachael Blackmore ride in the 2025 Grand National?

Grand National winning jockey Rachael Blackmore will ride Minella Indo for her boss Henry De Bromhead in the 2024 Grand National.

Rachael rode the gelding to a famous victory in the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2021 and the eleven-year-old gelding is trying to become the first horse since L'Escargot in 1975 to win both the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Grand National. 

Ain't That A Shame

Age: 10 Weight: 10-13 Horse No: 16

Profile

33-1 See Offer 33-1 See Offer

Disappointed here last year but bounced back to form recently when taking the Thyestes Chase at Gowran Park, popular choice with amateur rider in the saddle.

Rachael Blackmore and Minella Times caught the attention of worldwide media when winning the 2021 Grand National.

The bookmakers latched on to Minella Times as Blackmore’s most likely mount shortly after the completion of the Cheltenham Festival when Minella Times came in for significant recent ante post support and was backed from as big as 50/1 into 14/1. 

This move was undoubtedly based on the ‘Blackmore factor’ as punters clamoured to get on the right side of whichever horse she will ride. 

Rachael Blackmore continued her association with Minella Times in 2022 but history could not be made again as the duo were brought down at the ninth fence. Since then Minella Times has been retired.

Blackmore rode Ain't That A Shame in the 2023 Grand National and the gelding ran well for a long time until getting very tired from the second last. Rachael won't be on that horse in 2024 as he has ben sold to Amateur Rider David Maxwell for him to ride in the race.

Rachael's profile will almost certainly ensure that lots of once a year punters put their faith in racing’s current golden girl whatever she is riding.

This isn’t an overnight success situation for Blackmore who first took out an Amateur Rider’s licence in 2011 and then turned professional in 2015. Her first Cheltenham Festival winner came in 2019 on A Plus Tard and since then she has amassed a further fifteen Festival wins, including victories on Honeysuckle in the Champion Hurdle, Gold Cup wins on A Plus Tard and Minella Indo and, this season, a Champion Chase victory on Captain Guinness.

Blackmore’s star is definitely now in the ascendancy and, inevitably, the focus now turns once again to the Grand National. The jockey will be big news again at Aintree and all the media outlets will no doubt be scrambling for interviews and insights. 

Read about other famous Grand National women in our article here.

Rachael Blackmore has had four rides in the Grand National. She fell at the Chair on Alpha Des Obeaux five years years ago and finished tenth on Valseur Lido four years ago. Then came the history making ride when Rachael won the Grand National on Minella Times. Blackmore rode the same horse last year but was unluckily brought down at Valentines.

In 2023, Rachael rode Ain't That A Shame who finished seventeenth.

In addition to the rides in the Grand National, Rachael has had five other rides over the big Aintree fences. She pulled up on Rogue Angel in her first ever ride of the National fences and had a great ride on Sub Lieutenant to finish second in 2019 in the Topham Chase. She then finished 12th on Visioman in 2021 and was unseated by Notebook in the Topham in 2022. In 2023, Rachael had a fall from Upping The Anti in the Topham.