Cheltenham Festival 2022: Rachael Blackmore and A Plus Tard win Gold Cup

Rachael Blackmore created history as the first female rider to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup as the Henry de Bromhead-trained A Plus Tard triumphed.

The pair had finished second to stable-mate Minella Indo 12 months ago and Blackmore wanted to put things right.

And this time, Blackmore made no mistake on the 3-1 favourite, moving ahead of Minella Indo after the last and racing clear.

Minella Indo (7-1) was second ahead of Protektorat (10-1).

Despite her wins at last year's Champion Hurdle and then at the Aintree Grand National and the numerous awards she won subsequently, Blackmore knew that the Gold Cup had been within her grasp last year.

In a closely-contested race, it was Minella Indo and Robbie Power who made the first decisive move and grabbed the lead two from home.

But his rivals were never far away and A Plus Tard waited patiently before showing a lovely turn of pace to take the lead and, once he did, there was only going to be one winner and the pair went on to win by 15 lengths.

«I just can't believe it. I'm so lucky to be getting to ride all these kind of horses,» Blackmore told ITV Racing.

«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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