Rachael Blackmore shares touching tribute to Jack de Bromhead on Late Late Show

Tipperary jockey Rachael Blackmore spoke on last Friday night’s Late Late Show about the late Jack de Bromhead and the lasting legacy he has had.

Jack de Bromhead passed away at the age of 13 in 2022, following an accident.

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Blackmore spoke of Jack’s passing, and gave a testament to his character.

“What I felt that day was just something I've never felt before, or never experienced before, you know, so Honeysuckle was this mare of a lifetime really for me and for Henry, you know, you always hope you'll come across something like her, like she won two Champion Hurdles, she was unbelievable, she was unbeaten.

“Then Jack had his accident and that season she got beaten twice. She was going to Cheltenham for having her last ever run, and I don't think I've ever wanted to win a race more than I did that day, and she did, she won, and it was just incredible, the people there that day, the crowd, you know, walking back into the parade ring just, it felt powerful.

“Everyone was cheering for Henry, for Jack, for Heather, for Mia and Georgia, his two sisters, it was so much more than just a horse race, it was just a very special day.

“Jack was brilliant yeah, he was he was an amazing kid, he’s so, so missed obviously, but he was, he was so kind, and loyal, and you know, he was great craic as well, and he had lots of, a lot of fun inside him. He loved being outside, he loved animals, you know, he loved his dogs and he loved farming, and obviously horses and ponies were a massive part of his life and yeah he had a passion for it.”

Earlier this year, the Jack de Bromhead Equine Centre opened in Drumcondra.

Blackmore spoke of the work the centre undertakes, and how it provides a wonderful legacy for Jack.

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“The Jack de Bromhead Equine Centre is in Drumcondra, at the ChildVision Campus. So ChildVision are a fantastic charity that work with children with visual impairments and other additional needs, and they provide so many services for them. I was only reading up a bit more on what they do, like I didn’t even realise they produce books in Braille, any schoolbooks that kids can’t read, they’ll produce them for them in Braille, or with larger font. They’ve a residential care, they're training other people to provide the services they do in loads of other parts of the country. And then they obviously have the equine assisted activities side of it as well, and that’s where the Jack de Bromhead Centre comes in.

“They used to be at the mercy of the weather, which as you know in Ireland, isn’t great, so, you know, they’d have to cancel a lot of classes, a lot of sessions in the winter with the weather, so now they have a beautiful new indoor equine therapy centre which they can use all year round, they can provide so many more sessions for kids to enjoy the benefits of equine assisted activities, and what I love about it is I think it’s going to be this little hub that is going to be filled with so many amazing memories for so many kids and working with horses, and like, Jack loved horses, and loves ponies, and loved that side of life, so I think he’d get a massive buzz out of knowing, you know, there’s a big legacy there with his name, and so many kids are enjoying that now.”