RACHAEL BLACKMORE suffered a nasty shock on her return from an awful neck injury – when she was turned over on odds-on fav Slade Steel.
The trailblazing Grand National winner has needed three months to recover from a fall at Downpatrick.
https://twitter.com/RacingTV/status/1868637232329842796She had an exciting ride to come back to at Naas on Monday, though, getting the leg up on last season’s Supreme Novices’ Hurdle winner.
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The Henry de Bromhead-trained Slade Steel was fancied by punters too and sent off 8-15 fav.
He jumped well in the main in the 2m4f beginners’ chase but it was old foe Paul Townend and trainer Willie Mullins who came out on top.
The duo’s Lecky Watson looked a different horse over fences and dug in deep after the last to win at 100-30.
Favourite backers were left cursing their luck, with Racing TV calling the defeat ‘painful’ after it became clear how many lengths Slade Steel conceded at each jump.
Blackmore is easing her way back into racing with just one more ride on the card.
But she will hope to be fully fighting fit for the manic racing schedule after Christmas.
De Bromhead is likely to send out a load of his top stars at Leopardstown and possibly Britain, with Blackmore his No1 jockey.
The pair teamed up to land the Gold Cup and Grand National in 2021 and the Irish handler has another strong squad of horses for this year.
Blackmore, who has needed to wear a neck brace in her recovery, has been out since mid-September.
The 35-year-old smashed into the turf after falling from Hand Over Fist, trained by Denis Howard, in a handicap chase.
No timeframe was given for her return and an IHRB statement said at the time: “Rachael Blackmore has sustained a neck injury and will not ride in the coming weeks, while she undergoes rehabilitation for her injury.”
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