Rachael Blackmore raises over £200,000 after Champion Chase victory at Cheltenham Festival

Rachael Blackmore’s Serial Winners Fund has rocketed to over £200,000 after she won the Champion Chase at Cheltenham on Wednesday.

El Fabiolo was odds-on to give trainer Willie Mullins a historic 100th Cheltenham Festival win, but his chance went awry with a bad early blunder. In the end, Blackmore's 17-2 shot, Captain Guinness, trained by Henry de Bromhead, beat Gentleman De Mee.

"It was such an incredible race to win," Blackmore said. "He has been so consistent and he jumped super today, it is fantastic for everyone.

"El Fabiolo was just to the right of me, so I knew he was out of the equation. It is a strange feeling when something like that happens that early in the race. Wins here are still as special as ever. There is nowhere like it."

De Bromhead paid tribute to Blackmore, saying: "She is riding out of her skin and deserves every success she gets."

And, as a result of her victory, Blackmore's Serial Winners Fund hit the £205,000 mark. Back in November, Betfair and Blackmore launched the fund at Haydock Park for the Betfair Chase with an initial £100,000 donation.

Betfair initially committed to adding £5,000 to the fund any time Blackmore rode a winner up to Grand National Day. However, for this year’s Cheltenham Festival, those donations of £5,000 were doubled to £10,000 for every winner Blackmore rides.

“During the preview, I called on Betfair to raise their game for Cheltenham and double the amount donated to the Serial Winner Fund if I’m lucky enough to get into the winner's enclosure,” the 34-year-old said on the prospect of raising even more money.