A DOCUMENTARY that aired on RTE on Wednesday night about Rachael Blackmore has received rave reviews.
The documentary called Rachael Blackmore: A Grand Year was made by film maker Ross Whitaker. He was tasked with summing up the trailblazer's iconic year.
The 32-year-old became the first woman to become top jockey at Cheltenham earlier this year and also won at Aintree.
The awards flowed in with RTE Sportsperson of the Year, the BBC International Sports Personality of the Year and The Horse Racing Hero award.
Rachael Blackmore - A Grand Year.
Our feature length documentary 'Rachael Blackmore - A Grand Year' will air on RTE this December 29th. Directed by @rosswhitakertv @rachaelblackmor @VOS_Sport pic.twitter.com/oh17qHHtBV— Fifty-Three Six (@fiftythreesix) December 8, 2021
RTE viewers were quick to praise Whitaker's documentary
One social media user wrote: "Rachael Blackmore : A Grand Year What a show from #rte
Another wrote: "What a sportsperson #RachaelBlackmore is. Excellent documentary on her career to date and covering her exceptional 2021"
While another said: "Great documentary about Rachael Blackmore on RTE tonight. Always enjoy her interviews. What a phenomenal sports person. She has done so much for racing. An inspiration for young sports women too!"
And another added: "That was a superb watch well done to all involved. What an amazing sportsperson Rachael is and to see the way the other jockeys speak of her is fantastic. She deserves all the plaudits"
Watch the documentary 'Rachael Blackmore: A Grand Year' at 9.25pm on @RTEOne tomorrow. The RTÉ Sportsperson of the year rides favourite A Plus Tard in the feature at Leopardstown next, live on @RTE2 and @RTEplayer pic.twitter.com/3qtiKgu7V0
— RTÉ Racing (@RTEracing) December 28, 2021
Early in her career, she admitted she feared she wasn't "good enough" and that her detractors told her to take up another career, but she didn't take up the advice
Her family feared she might have to give it up within a few months to get a "real job" but this wasn't the case as her determination and hard work began to pay off and she kept riding winners.
Sharing the key to her success, she said:
"The basic things for me like getting a good start, being aware of race pace and where you should be in a race, being aware of the riders around you, getting to know the people you ride against and their different mannerisms. The more you practise, the better you're going to get.
"I love riding horses, but it's the love of winning that makes you do that."
