Here is the full list of female jockeys who have participated at the Cheltenham Festival over the years.
Rachael Blackmore changed the landscape for female riders at the Cheltenham Festival and helped to reimagine the boundaries of possibility.
She headlines the list of female jockeys who have enjoyed memorable moments at Prestbury Park.
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Rachael Blackmore
Rachael Blackmore is the most successful female jockey ever to grace the Cheltenham Festival stage, with a stunning 18 wins on her CV including the Gold Cup, two Champion Hurdles, a Stayers' Hurdle and a Queen Mother Champion Chase.
In 2021, Blackmore partnered six winners across the four days, enough to see history made as she was crowned leading rider at the meeting.
Blackmore, who also won the Grand National in that spring of 2021, was the leading rider for Henry de Bromhead's stable and she remains the undisputed Queen of the Cotswolds.
Jody Townend
Jodie Townend is the younger sister of four-time Cheltenham Gold Cup-winning rider Paul and like her brother she works at Willie Mullins' yard in Co Carlow.
She has been champion amateur rider four times in Ireland and has ridden multiple graded winners for the Mullins team in bumpers at the Dublin Racing Festival.
She is viewed as a key part of the Closutton team and she won at the Cheltenham Festival for the first time in 2025.
Bryony Frost
During her association with Paul Nicholls at his Ditcheat base, Bryony Frost emerged as Britain's pre-eminent female jumps pilot, before relocating to France in 2024.
She partnered Pacha Du Polder to win the St James's Place Hunters Chase in 2017 when still riding as an amateur, but her biggest days would come in a long association with Frodon.
'The Dude' was given a wonderful front-running ride to fend off all challengers in the Ryanair Chase in 2019.
Other Female Jockeys at Cheltenham
For many years jumps racing was a man's world, but barriers have come down in the modern era and that includes the rise of female jockeys at the Cheltenham Festival.
There have now been 16 winning lady riders at the Cheltenham Festival since Caroline Beasley in the 1983 Foxhunters Chase on board Eliogarty and the talent pool of riders is growing all the time.
The likes of Nina Carberry and Lizzie Kelly have starred in the Cotswolds down through the years, while Blackmore has raised the bar to new levels.
Below is a list of the winning female riders to date.
Name | Festival wins |
Rachael Blackmore | 18 |
Nina Carberry | 7 |
Katie Walsh | 3 |
Lizzie Kelly | 2 |
Gee Armytage | 2 |
Bryony Frost | 2 |
Bridget Andrews | 1 |
Gina Andrews | 1 |
Caroline Beasley | 1 |
Polly Curling | 1 |
Rilly Goschen | 1 |
Fiona Needham | 1 |
Jody Townend | 1 |
Lisa O'Neill | 1 |
Maxine O'Sullivan | 1 |
Katie Rimell | 1 |
Lucy Turner | 1 |
