Irish Times Sport Ireland Sportswoman of the Month - February

The winner of The Irish Times Sport Ireland Sportswoman Award for February 2020 is jockey, Rachael Blackmore.

Rachael has been recognized for her Grade One double win at Leopardstown on Honeysuckle and Notebook at the beginning of February.

Her first victory on day one of the Leopardstown festival was on board Notebook in the ERSG Arkle, and then she completed her day with the big one, when she rode another Henry de Bromhead winner, this time on Honeysuckle in the Irish Champion Hurdle.

Herself and Honeysuckle are quite a partnership. “I got some kick out of that,” she said after Tuesday’s triumph at Cheltenham on the same horse, but as is Blackmore’s wont she is reluctant to take any of the credit, “sometimes the ball bounces in your favour,” as she put it.

As she talked about on Tuesday, she went to this year’s Cheltenham Festival with considerably more pressure on her than before, her form through last year, when she was runner-up in the jockeys' championship to Paul Townend, form she has maintained in the new season, increasing the weight of expectation. 

She’s taking it in her stride, though, and with several more rides in the final two days in Cheltenham, it would be no great surprise to see her back in the winner’s enclosure.