Rachael Blackmore: A trailblazing career from a ferociously determined jockey

One of the very great Irish sporting careers came to an end on Monday with the announcement by Rachael Blackmore that she was retiring from horse racing. It was, writes Brian O’Connor, reflecting on “a trailblazing career by a singularly talented and ferociously determined figure”, “perhaps the most groundbreaking career any jockey has ever had”.

Mercifully, Blackmore was never asked to wear a skort (as far as we know). “Is this some sort of joke,” asked Carla Ward when she was first told about camogie’s controversy, Gavin Cummiskey hearing from the Republic of Ireland manager when she was asked about the issue on Monday.

In Gaelic games, Conor McManus looks back at the weekend’s Ulster and Leinster finals, the Donegal v Armagh game providing “further evidence that the new rules have improved football and brought back the excitement”. And he doffs his cap to Louth, their first Leinster title in 68 years vindicating the development work put in by the county in recent years.

For Gordon Manning, the fact that the four finals attracted a total of 134,892 spectators proves that there’s life in the provincial championships yet. “Those praying for their demise can forget about seeing any white smoke on that particular issue in the near future.”

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In rugby, Gerry Thornley takes you through the permutations for the final round of URC games, and looks ahead to Munster’s “all-or-nothing” shoot-out against Benetton on Friday - effectively “a playoff to reach the playoffs”. An emotional night it will be too, marking the final game on Irish soil for Peter O’Mahony, Conor Murray and Stephen Archer.

While Munster’s season is still alive, Ulster and Connacht’s campaigns are fizzling out, Ulster’s decline, writes Gerry, the “more alarming” considering their bigger history and tradition. But after the disappointment of their Champions Cup exit, Leinster can still salvage something from their season, Daire Walsh talking to assistant coach Tyler Bleyendaal about their URC hopes.

Owen Doyle, meanwhile, gives us his thoughts on the refereeing in last weekend’s games, Scotland’s Sam Grove-White, who looked after Leinster’s tie against Zebre, “falling short of requirements”. “There is little point in repeating that Hollie Davidson is the best referee in Scotland,” he says, “it’s a little insulting considering she has no competition.”

Tom McKibbin will have a fair amount of competition at this week’s US PGA Championship, as Philip Reid tells us in his Different Strokes column. Denis Walsh is our man over at Quail Hollow, drenched he was too after “downpours that would have tested Noah’s nerve” during the first day of official practice. Denis heard from McKibbin as he prepares for just the third major of his career, the LIV man relieved to have received a late invitation to the tournament.

And in athletics, Ian O’Riordan talked to Nichola Sheridan at the launch event for the 2025 Dublin Marathon, which will take place in October. Sheridan only made her marathon debut a year ago, but at 28 she believes her best years are still to come. She’s one of 22,500 entries for October’s race. Sadly, some of us forgot to put a stamp on our envelope.

TV Watch: After Monday’s rest day, the Giro d’Italia resumes today (TNT Sports 1, 11.30am) and while golf’s PGA Championship might not start until Thursday, Sky Sports are already kicking off their build-up (2pm). And this evening, Sunderland take a 2-1 lead in to their Championship play-off semi-final against Coventry (Sky Sports Football, 8pm), Sheffield United waiting for the winners in the final.