Rachael Blackmore made history when she became the first female jockey in the history of the Grand National to win the event. Blackmore enjoyed an outstanding run on Minella Times, timing the surge of her charge to perfection to break away from the field and claim the victory in the prestigious race at Aintree.

The triumph capped a memorable run in the 2020/21 season for Blackmore, having already claimed the Champion Hurdle and Triumph Hurdle crowns at Cheltenham Festival along with the Irish Champion Hurdle. The 31-year-old has excelled on the track and has made significant strides for women in the sport in jumps racing, although she is not alone in her efforts.

While Blackmore has been dominant in jumps racing, Hollie Doyle has made an equally large impact in flat racing. In the 2020 campaign, she was nothing short of outstanding breaking new ground at the highest level of the sport. Doyle won the British Champions Sprint Stakes with a flawless ride on Glen Shiel at Ascot along with a victory on Trueshan in the Long Distance Cup in the same week.

In total over the course of the season, Doyle mustered an incredible 117 wins breaking her own record set the previous year. She finished fourth overall in the Jockeys' Championship on the term and has earned the respect of racing enthusiasts due to her excellence at the top end of the sport.

It has changed the perspective of bettors that may have overlooked female jockeys in the past. Indeed the metrics for both Blackmore and Doyle in their recent history would favour them over a large proportion of their male counterparts in the field. Still there might be a bias against them based on results of the past and horse racing’s long history of only male jockeys enjoying success in the leading races, although the presence of technology along with their outstanding performances could change that forever.

Artificial intelligence is becoming a vital tool for horse racing tips. These systems track all the relevant information about a particular race such as form, weather, pedigree and the conditions on the track before inserting those criteria into a formula. It then calculates the horse and the jockey with the best opportunity to win the race in question.

This formula removes bias and sentiment from the equation, basing their judgement on the facts of the matter. It serves the bettors and highlights issues from the respective horses, jockeys, trainers and owners that may not have been evident based on their own research. Given that we all have an element of bias, facts such as a lack of a victory for a female jockey at the Grand National or the British Champions Stakes may have been held against Blackmore and Doyle in the past. However, the tool may have raised their outstanding form and the performances of their respective charges over the course of the season.

The system removes the ideas of stereotypes from betting on the sport. It will only benefit bettors in the long term and perhaps allow for an open mind in the future when wagering on horse racing.

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