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| Version 3 | Version 4 |
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| Many Clouds gives Leighton Aspell back-to-back Grand National wins | Many Clouds gives Leighton Aspell back-to-back Grand National wins |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Tony McCoy seems adamant that he will not reconsider his decision to retire but, for the second year running, the Grand National was won by a jockey who did just that. McCoy, who finished fifth on Shutthefrontdoor, was one of the first people to congratulate Leighton Aspell after his victory on the 25-1 chance Many Clouds, 12 months after the victorious jockey had won the race on another 25-1 shot, Pineau De Re. | |
| Aspell spent two years out of the weighing room after losing his enthusiasm for race-riding in 2007, but his decision to return has proved to be inspired. He is the first rider since Brian Fletcher, who rode Red Rum in 1973 and 1974, to win the National two years running and the first since Bryan Marshall in 1953 and 1954 to do so on different horses. | |
| Related: Ruby Walsh to the rescue after Balthazar King’s Grand National fall | Related: Ruby Walsh to the rescue after Balthazar King’s Grand National fall |
| All eyes, inevitably, were on McCoy as the field went around their first circuit and a half of Aintree and he kept the 6-1 favourite out of trouble and jumping well as a steady trickle of runners either fell or unseated their jockeys. The survivors were directed around the Canal Turn on the second circuit as Balthazar King, last year’s runner-up, received treatment after a fall first time around, and after The Druids Nephew, who was still going well, fell when leading at the fifth-last fence, Shutthefrontdoor was still travelling like a potential winner. | |
| But so was Many Clouds, a horse with the class to win the Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury in November, one of the toughest and most competitive races of the season, before lining up as one of the favourites for the Gold Cup at Cheltenham last month. His quality meant that he had 11st 9lb to carry, just 1lb below the top weight and the highest burden carried to victory since Red Rum’s success under the old top weight of 12 stone in 1974, but he had adapted swiftly to the challenge of the big fences, vindicating the decision of Oliver Sherwood, his trainer, and Trevor Hemmings, his owner, to send him to the race just four weeks after his run at Cheltenham. | But so was Many Clouds, a horse with the class to win the Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury in November, one of the toughest and most competitive races of the season, before lining up as one of the favourites for the Gold Cup at Cheltenham last month. His quality meant that he had 11st 9lb to carry, just 1lb below the top weight and the highest burden carried to victory since Red Rum’s success under the old top weight of 12 stone in 1974, but he had adapted swiftly to the challenge of the big fences, vindicating the decision of Oliver Sherwood, his trainer, and Trevor Hemmings, his owner, to send him to the race just four weeks after his run at Cheltenham. |
| Many Clouds was left in front by the fall of The Druids Nephew and Aspell needed no further invitation to set off for the line. He was giving half a stone to Shutthefrontdoor, but McCoy’s mount was struggling to raise a serious challenge before they had jumped the last. The most successful jockey in National Hunt history has often seemed to get horses home by force of will, but even he has his limits. | Many Clouds was left in front by the fall of The Druids Nephew and Aspell needed no further invitation to set off for the line. He was giving half a stone to Shutthefrontdoor, but McCoy’s mount was struggling to raise a serious challenge before they had jumped the last. The most successful jockey in National Hunt history has often seemed to get horses home by force of will, but even he has his limits. |
| Instead it was another 25-1 chance, Saint Are, who emerged from the pursuers after the last and tried to chase down Many Clouds. He was gaining on the leader in the final furlong but never at a rate that gave him a real chance of catching the winner. Hemmings’s familiar green-and-yellow quartered colours passed the line in front for the third time in a Grand National, following the victories of Hedgehunter and Ballabriggs in 2005 and 2011, with one and three-quarter lengths to spare over Saint Are, with Monbeg Dude third at 40-1 and Alvarado back in fourth for the second year running. | |
| “When Aidan [Coleman, on The Druids Nephew] fell, my horse just pricked his ears and had a breather for three or four furlongs,” Aspell said afterwards. “I would have liked a couple alongside me when we got to the Elbow [just over a furlong out] just to push him along a bit. It’s a lonely place there and you’re running into a funnel. He’s all heart though and has given every ounce he possibly could have. | “When Aidan [Coleman, on The Druids Nephew] fell, my horse just pricked his ears and had a breather for three or four furlongs,” Aspell said afterwards. “I would have liked a couple alongside me when we got to the Elbow [just over a furlong out] just to push him along a bit. It’s a lonely place there and you’re running into a funnel. He’s all heart though and has given every ounce he possibly could have. |
| “I remember watching this race in a field on a small TV after I retired a few years ago. I never thought I’d ever win it once, let alone twice. He’s a great friend of mine, this horse. Last year I had to work hard at various points in the race, and I had to do a light weight before the National so I was a tired man. Today I had a lovely smooth passage around.” | “I remember watching this race in a field on a small TV after I retired a few years ago. I never thought I’d ever win it once, let alone twice. He’s a great friend of mine, this horse. Last year I had to work hard at various points in the race, and I had to do a light weight before the National so I was a tired man. Today I had a lovely smooth passage around.” |
| Aspell set out knowing that he was on one of the best horses in the race, but a lacklustre run in the Gold Cup, when Many Clouds finished sixth, sowed the only seeds of doubt in the minds of his jockey and trainer. | Aspell set out knowing that he was on one of the best horses in the race, but a lacklustre run in the Gold Cup, when Many Clouds finished sixth, sowed the only seeds of doubt in the minds of his jockey and trainer. |
| Related: The Grand National – in pictures | Related: The Grand National – in pictures |
| “He just disappointed us there a little bit,” Aspell said. “He’d been training and eating very well since and giving us all the right signals, it was just a nagging doubt in the back of my mind whether he would be in tip-top form. | “He just disappointed us there a little bit,” Aspell said. “He’d been training and eating very well since and giving us all the right signals, it was just a nagging doubt in the back of my mind whether he would be in tip-top form. |
| “I asked him some big questions and he has dug really deep. I tried to conserve energy because he had a hard race in the Gold Cup and it’s a wonderful training performance by Oliver to freshen him up and recharge the batteries. He’s all heart and he gave me the best ride I have ever had over these fences. I was just hoping that the battery life would last.” | “I asked him some big questions and he has dug really deep. I tried to conserve energy because he had a hard race in the Gold Cup and it’s a wonderful training performance by Oliver to freshen him up and recharge the batteries. He’s all heart and he gave me the best ride I have ever had over these fences. I was just hoping that the battery life would last.” |
| The Grand National is so intensely competitive that most National Hunt owners can only dream of winning it once. Hemmings, though, has now enjoyed as many victories as Noel Le Mare, the owner of Red Rum, but with three different horses. | The Grand National is so intensely competitive that most National Hunt owners can only dream of winning it once. Hemmings, though, has now enjoyed as many victories as Noel Le Mare, the owner of Red Rum, but with three different horses. |
| “There’s a style of horse that I purchase,” Hemmings said, “but I’m buying a slightly different sort of horse now than I did 20 years ago. They’re a slightly smarter sort of horse than the originals, and that’s how racing and the National have changed.” | “There’s a style of horse that I purchase,” Hemmings said, “but I’m buying a slightly different sort of horse now than I did 20 years ago. They’re a slightly smarter sort of horse than the originals, and that’s how racing and the National have changed.” |
| 2015 Crabbie’s Grand National - where they finished: | 2015 Crabbie’s Grand National - where they finished: |
| 1st Many Clouds 25/1 | 1st Many Clouds 25/1 |
| 2nd Saint Are 25-1 - 1 3/4 Lengths | 2nd Saint Are 25-1 - 1 3/4 Lengths |
| 3rd Mondbeg Dude 40-1 - 6 Lengths | 3rd Mondbeg Dude 40-1 - 6 Lengths |
| 4th Alvarado 20-1 - 3 1/2 Lengths | 4th Alvarado 20-1 - 3 1/2 Lengths |
| 5th Shutthefrontdoor 6-1Fav - 1 1/2 Lengths | 5th Shutthefrontdoor 6-1Fav - 1 1/2 Lengths |
| 6th Royale Knight 25-1 - 2 1/4 Lengths | 6th Royale Knight 25-1 - 2 1/4 Lengths |
| 7th Tranquil Sea 33-1 - 10 Lengths | 7th Tranquil Sea 33-1 - 10 Lengths |
| 8th Cause Of Causes 14-1 - 2 1/4 Lengths | 8th Cause Of Causes 14-1 - 2 1/4 Lengths |
| 9th Soll 9-1 - 14 Lengths | 9th Soll 9-1 - 14 Lengths |
| 10th Chance Du Roy 40-1 - 10 Lengths | 10th Chance Du Roy 40-1 - 10 Lengths |
| 11th Mon Parrain 33-1 - 5 Lengths | 11th Mon Parrain 33-1 - 5 Lengths |
| 12th Pineau De Re 25-1 - 1 1/2 Lengths | 12th Pineau De Re 25-1 - 1 1/2 Lengths |
| 13th Owega Star 50-1 - 6 Lengths | 13th Owega Star 50-1 - 6 Lengths |
| 14th Spring Heeled 25-1 - 25 Lengths | 14th Spring Heeled 25-1 - 25 Lengths |
| 15th Oscar Time 20-1 - 2 1/2 Lengths | 15th Oscar Time 20-1 - 2 1/2 Lengths |
| 16th First Lieutenant 14-1 - 3 3/4 Lengths | 16th First Lieutenant 14-1 - 3 3/4 Lengths |
| 17th Rocky Creek 8-1 - 5 Lengths | 17th Rocky Creek 8-1 - 5 Lengths |
| 18th Night In Milan 20-1 - 2 1/2 Lengths | 18th Night In Milan 20-1 - 2 1/2 Lengths |
| 19th Dolatulo 66-1 - 3 1/4 Lengths | 19th Dolatulo 66-1 - 3 1/4 Lengths |
| Non-finishers | Non-finishers |
| Fence One: Al Co (unseated), Gas Line Boy (fell), Ely Brown (fell) | Fence One: Al Co (unseated), Gas Line Boy (fell), Ely Brown (fell) |
| Fence Three: Rubi Light (unseated rider) | Fence Three: Rubi Light (unseated rider) |
| Fence Four: Corrin Wood (pulled up) | Fence Four: Corrin Wood (pulled up) |
| Fence Five: Unioniste (fell) | Fence Five: Unioniste (fell) |
| Fence Six: River Choice (fell) | Fence Six: River Choice (fell) |
| Fence Eight: Balthazar King (fell), Ballycasey (brought down) | Fence Eight: Balthazar King (fell), Ballycasey (brought down) |
| Fence 18: Court By Surprise (pulled up) | Fence 18: Court By Surprise (pulled up) |
| Fence 25: Lord Windermere (pulled up), Across The Bay (pulled up), Super Duty (pulled up) | Fence 25: Lord Windermere (pulled up), Across The Bay (pulled up), Super Duty (pulled up) |
| Fence 26: Rebel Rebellion (pulled up), The Rainbow Hunter (fell), The Druids Nephew (fell) | Fence 26: Rebel Rebellion (pulled up), The Rainbow Hunter (fell), The Druids Nephew (fell) |
| Fence 28: Portrait King (fell) | Fence 28: Portrait King (fell) |
| Fence 29: Godsmejudge (pulled up), Wyck Hill (pulled up), Bob Ford (pulled up) | Fence 29: Godsmejudge (pulled up), Wyck Hill (pulled up), Bob Ford (pulled up) |