RIP Laura Buckley Noonan
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06 Sept 2025
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06 Sept 2025
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Rachael Blackmore celebrating after winning the Weatherbys Champion Bumper earlier at the Cheltenham Festival on St Patrick’s Day Photo by Hugh Routledge/Sportsfile
There was joy among racing fans throughout county Tipperary and Ireland this afternoon as Killenaule jockey Rachael Blackmore won the coveted Cheltenham Gold Cup riding A Plus Tard in a historic victory beating last year's winner Minella Indo.
Blackmore, who became the first woman to win the Champion Hurdle and Grand National last season, is now the first woman to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup. She finished runner-up in the Gold Cup last year on A Plus Tard, which along with second place Minella Indo is trained by Waterford horse trainer Henry De Bromhead.
The 32-year-old Tipperary woman produced a powerful finish on A Plus Tard and won the race by a significant margin after galloping past Minella Indo, which was previously owned by John Nallen, co-owner of Clonmel's Hotel Minella.
Alex Ferguson's Protektorat was third, with Galvin, trained by Gordon Elliott, finishing fourth.
This is the second year in a row that a horse trained by De Bromhead has placed first and second in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, with just the order changing between 2021 and 2022.
Interviewed after the race, Ms Blackmore said she just couldn't believe it.
"I just can't believe it. I’m so lucky to be getting to ride all these kind of horses.
"You can’t do this without the horses and being attached to Henry’s yard is just absolutely phenomenal. To give me this horse is unbelievable I don’t know what to say.
"I’ve had so many special days. I wouldn’t swap the Grand National for anything but this is the Gold Cup. I wish I had something better to say right now. I just can’t.
"You have all these plans about how things are going to work out. Racing doesn’t let that happen all the time and for some reason it’s happened to me today. I just can’t explain how lucky I feel."
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