Grand National 2024: Who Will Rachael Blackmore Ride?

Rachael Blackmore will forever be synonymous with the Grand National after making history to become the first female rider to win the iconic steeplechase at Aintree back in 2021 aboard Minella Times. In 2024 she has a live chance aboard a veteran and we hone in on her chance of making it two Grand National titles here...

There is no jockey in recent memory who has captured the hearts of the nation quite like Rachael Blackmore. Her meteoric rise had one of its many high points in 2021 when she won the National on board Henry De Bromhead's Minella Times in the iconic JP McManus silks, but now Blackmore has firmly established herself as one of the elite riders around she is desperate to win the world's most famous race once more.

In 2022 she came back for more on board the same horse, albeit from a much higher mark, but was brought down and thus ended her chance to make it two Grand Nationals in as many seasons. Last campaign she rode Ain't That A Shame, who will once again run at Aintree in the big race on Saturday of this year, but could not justify strong market support and eventually weakened into 17th.

That horse would potentially have been a contender for Blackmore to ride, but he has now been purchased by David Maxwell and will be ridden by the enigmatic amateur himself. No disrespect to Maxwell, but if Blackmore were on board one suspects the horse would be about half the current 50/1 he is being offered at with our friends at CopyBet. No, Blackmore will not ride Ain't That A Shame for the second year in a row, instead she will be on board former Gold Cup winner MINELLA INDO.

Minella Indo needs no introduction to racing fans, with his name forever etched in Cheltenham folklore following his brilliant 2021 success in the Gold Cup. While he is undoubtedly a good few pounds worse than he was back in his rip snorting pomp, he is still a classy operator and although he will have to defy some trends regarding those with a big weight in a soft ground National, he certainly is the type who will relish the softer ground and the test this race has to offer.

He ran a storming race over the Cheltenham cross country fences at the December meeting there as a prep for the Cross Country itself at the Festival, only for that race to be abandoned due to the course not being fit to race on. This means Blackmore's mount will also have to defy those who believe the horse needs a run in the same calendar year as his National attempt if he is to win.

Henry De Bromhead is a master trainer, of that there is no doubt, and he will have managed building his champion up for March, winding him back down again before once again priming her for Aintree like the expert he is. We can expect Minella Indo here in phenomenal shape and with the undoubted weight of money to come from casual punters who will blindly follow Rachael Blackmore in the Grand National, perhaps it is best to move with haste if he is your fancy for the showpiece race before Saturday afternoon is upon us. CopyBet are paying an enhanced 6 places on all each-way Grand National bets.