Rachael Blackmore pays tribute to retired racemare Honeysuckle

An impressive winner of a point-to-point in Dromahane for Mark O'Hare, she was liked by Henry, Heather and Peter Molony at the Punchestown Goffs Sale and bought for Kenny. She arrived in Knockeen, July 2018. The wheels were set in motion.
Thank you.

She won her maiden hurdle at Fairyhouse in November 2018 and I thought that she was very nice, but I didn't for a second think that she could be the mare that she became. A 17-time winner. A dual Champion Hurdler.
Thank you.

People are amazing. The people have made it so special. We had wonderful days in Fairyhouse and Punchestown with everyone appreciating her. At Leopardstown for the Irish Champion Hurdle this year, the reception that she got there, people cheering when I was legged up, when we cantered past the stands on the way down to the start. That just doesn't normally happen.
Thank you.

Again... People are amazing, Cheltenham this year felt like so much more than a Cheltenham Festival winner. I didn't think that that was possible, any Cheltenham Festival winner is special, but the crowds were incredible on Tuesday. The reception was different, it was something that I had never experienced before. The people were cheering for Honeysuckle, but they were cheering for Jack as well. It's a magical place. To every single person who was in Cheltenham that day.
Thank you.

The little rainbow coming out. A really small, random little piece of a rainbow. Jack would have absolutely loved every second of Tuesday.
Thanks, Jack.

From a jockey's perspective, to ride a horse in a race 19 times, and to feel that horse give you everything they have on each of those occasions. That's extremely special. It's a massive testament to how Henry has trained her, nurturing her along, producing her like he did every day, pretty outstanding. Even in defeat, I could feel her digging as deep as she could. In the Hatton's Grace last December, I felt her striving to get back at the other two horses.

I thought for a few seconds after the final flight that we were going to. At Leopardstown in February, State Man was gone, but she fought to hold onto second place. She just did not want Vauban to get past her. She had the talent, but she also had the attitude. I don't think you can train that. She was just born with it, that fight and that determination.
Thank you.

My own injuries over the last few years have never overlapped with Honeysuckle running. That, as a jockey, a horse like her, over the course of her five seasons racing, 19 races, that I got to ride her on every single one of those days. That I got to have that association with one of the racing greats.
Thank you.

In Kenny Alexander, she has a very cool owner. Kenny was happy to roll the dice with her again at Cheltenham. Henry gave the green light, and Kenny went with that. He's a great owner, he just has a great attitude to life in general, he has a great way of looking at things.
Thank you.

There is no doubt that the pressure riding her increased as she progressed. The more she won, the more she was expected to win. It probably became less enjoyable riding her as time went on, but in a way that was also enjoyable in itself. It's a privilege to feel like that, as a jockey you crave that, your chances of success increase. It was such an unfamiliar feeling when she was beaten in Fairyhouse, not good. It did have a knock on effect of us getting to walk back into the winners enclosure in Cheltenham. I didn't understand it at the time, but I do now.
Thank you.

Everyone in the yard will miss her hugely, especially Colman Comerford, who rode her out every day and who played a massive part in her success. The team at Knockeen, headed by Davy Roche, the farrier, the physios, the vets, the people who brushed her in the evening and who looked after her stable, Rathmore Stud where she spent her summers, everyone, they all contributed to her story and her success. We are all so lucky that she found her way to Knockeen at the start of her racing career.
Thank you.

It will definitely be a very different Cheltenham Festival next year, not having Honeysuckle there. She was some ace to have in your pocket going into that week. You get a bit spoiled. You get used to having her. I have mixed emotions now. I'm sad in lots of ways knowing that her racing career is over. Selfishly, because I won't have her to ride again.

But I'm also so happy that she got to finish as she did, with the perfect ending. Her stable has always been the go-to stable when anyone has come to visit. Best of luck to whoever goes into that now and has to try and fill those shoes! Strangely, I only feel now like I can enjoy Honeysuckle properly. I feel like I can say things now like, she never fell, she always gave her all. No matter what happens in my career now, nobody can take Honeysuckle. It's all done, wrapped up with a nice bow on top. I will forever be grateful to her.
Thank you, Honeysuckle.