National Hunt jockey Rachael Blackmore will ride King Of The Throne for Emmet Mullins in Saturday’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby at The Curragh.
It will be the Killenaule woman’s first time riding in Ireland’s Premier Classic over the mile and a half distance as she become only the third woman, after Joanna Morgan and Ana O’Brien, to ride in the Group 1 contest.
Blackmore is in great form at present having had a double at Roscommon during the week, following on from her recent biggest success on the level when taking the Listed Martin Molony Stakes on Oriental Eagle.
She has also teamed up successfully in recent times with trainer Karl Thornton with whom she won a handicap at Fairyhouse on Oromo, before combining successfully again during the past week at the same venue.
Speaking to Racing TV ahead of her Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby debut, Rachael Blackmore said:
“I can’t believe it really. It’s pretty cool to be riding in the race. Fair play to Emmet for giving me the opportunity to ride in it. It’s a big deal for him as well, having his first runner in the race. It’s very exciting and I’m really looking forward to it.”
Discussing the importance of the race, the Tipperary native continued:
“I feel like I’m an imposter in it really. It’s such an incredibly special race and I never even dreamt of riding in Irish Classics. It really does mean a lot to get the opportunity to ride in a race like this and I’m just very grateful to be given an opportunity and I’m really looking forward to it.”
Saturday’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby is the penultimate race of an 8-race card at The Curragh, going off at 7.15pm, with live coverage on both RTÉ and Racing TV.
