Rachael Blackmore among World Star nominations

Grand National-winning jockey Rachael Blackmore is on the shortlist for the BBC’s World Sports Star award.

Leading Irish rider Blackmore became the first female winner of the Aintree race in April, having also been the first woman to win Cheltenham’s Champion Hurdle the month before.

It was a Cheltenham Festival to remember for Blackmore, who ended the week as the top jockey with six wins, including Honeysuckle’s memorable triumph in the day-one feature.

Her other Festival victories came aboard Bob Olinger, Sir Gerhard, Allaho, Telmesomethinggirl and Quilixios, while Minella Times – trained by Henry De Bromhead – was the horse who saw her enter the Grand National record books on April 10.

Blackmore ended the Irish 2020/21 National Hunt jockeys’ championship in second place, just behind Paul Townend, with 92 domestic winners, on top of the eight winners she rode in Britain to make it a perfect 100 for the year (April-April).

Formula One title contender Max Verstappen is also on the shortlist. The Dutchman is level with Britain’s Lewis Hamilton in the drivers’ standings heading into the weekend’s final race of the F1 season in Abu Dhabi, after a dramatic race in Saudi Arabia on Sunday.

The pair collided on the 37th lap, with Hamilton going on to win the race. The Briton, who is aiming to eclipse Michael Schumacher by claiming a record eighth title this weekend, is expected to be on the shortlist for the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year award.

Boxer Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, NFL quarterback Tom Brady, tennis star Novak Djokovic and sprinter Elaine Thompson-Herah complete the list.