Leighton Aspell (born 12 June 1976) is a retired Irish jockey, whose wins include the

Champion Four Year Old Hurdle The Champion Four Year Old Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Ireland which is open to horses aged four years. It is run at Punchestown over a distance of about 2 miles (3,219 metres), and during its run ...

riding

United United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

, two runnings of the

Welsh National The Coral Welsh Grand National is a Premier Handicap National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Chepstow, Wales, over a distance of abo ...

, the

2014 Grand National The 2014 Grand National (officially known as the 2014 Crabbie's Grand National for sponsorship reasons) was the 167th annual running of the Grand National Horse racing, horse race at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England. The showpiece Stee ...

riding

Pineau de Re Pineau de Re (foaled 8 May 2003) is a French-bred, British-trained AQPS racehorse best known for winning the 2014 Grand National. Background Pineau de Re is a bay gelding with no white markings bred in France by Michel Hardy. His sire Marres ...

and the

2015 Grand National The 2015 Grand National (officially known as the 2015 Crabbie's Grand National for sponsorship reasons) was the 168th annual running of the Grand National horse race at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England. The showpiece steeplechase too ...

riding

Many Clouds Many Clouds (21 April 2007 – 28 January 2017) was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 2015 Grand National. After being sold as a foal, he was sent to England and trained for a National Hunt raci ...

Personal life

Leighton Aspell was born 12 June 1976 in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

, Ireland. He grew up in Narraghmore,

County Kildare County Kildare ( ga, Contae Chill Dara) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the count ...

. Aspell has a brother, Paddy, who is also a jockey, and was originally taught to ride by his father, Patrick. He was later apprenticed to Reg Hollinshead. Aspell has a

fan club A fans club is an organized group of fans, generally of a celebrity. Most fans clubs are run by fans who devote considerable time and resources to support them. There are also "official" fan clubs that are run by someone associated with the pe ...

, making him "one of the few jockeys" to have such a thing. He and his brother Paddy are second cousins of former Ireland Rugby international

Shane Horgan Shane Patrick Horgan (born 18 July 1978) is an Irish former rugby union player who played wing or centre for Leinster and Ireland. Early life He was born on 18 July 1978 in Bellewstown, County Meath, to an Irish mother, Ursula (née Campbell) ...

and his actress sister

Sharon Horgan Sharon Lorencia Horgan (born 13 July 1970) is an Irish actress, writer, director, comedian and producer who co-wrote and starred in the comedy series '' Pulling'' (2006–2009) and ''Catastrophe'' (2015–2019). She also created the HBO comedy ...

Career

Aspell has competed in seven

Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England. First run in 1839, it is a handicap st ...

s, winning both the

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...

and

s and coming second in the

2003 Grand National The 2003 Grand National (officially known as the Martell (cognac), Martell Grand National for sponsorship reasons) was the 156th official renewal of the world-famous Grand National Steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase that took place at A ...

(his debut), riding Supreme Glory. Aspell had several other notable successes. He won the Welsh National on Supreme Glory in 2001 and the same race on L'Aventure in 2005. Also, in 2005, Aspell won the Grade I

Punchestown Racecourse Punchestown Racecourse is located in the parish of Eadestown, between the R410 and R411 regional roads near Naas, County Kildare, in Ireland. It is known as the home of Irish Jumps Racing and plays host to the annual Punchestown Irish National ...

on the Lucy Wadham-trained mare

. In 2006, Aspell came near to victory at the Grand National, riding Ballycassidy, but he fell at Valentine's Brook second time round. In July 2007, Aspell announced his retirement from race riding, and left to work for trainer John Dunlop in

Arundel Arundel ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Arun District of the South Downs, West Sussex, England. The much-conserved town has a medieval castle and Roman Catholic cathedral. Arundel has a museum and comes second behind much larg ...

. However, he began his comeback in April 2009, saying

"I'm really looking forward to coming back. It's something that has been in the back of my mind, and the more I thought about it, the more I decided that I didn't want to find myself in ten years time regretting not having ridden for longer."

During the 2013–2014 season, Aspell had his best ever season, riding 61 winners so far. He was given the ride on Richard Newland's

in the

after the horse's regular rider Sam Twiston-Davies opted to ride the more fancied Tidal Bay around three weeks prior to the race. After a

false start In sports, a false start is a disallowed start, usually due to a movement by a participant before (or in some cases after) being signaled or otherwise permitted by the rules to start. Depending on the sport and the event, a false start can result ...

, Aspell and Pineau de Re won the race by five lengths at odds of 25/1, winning £561,300 out of a £1,000,000 prize fund. At the

, Aspell rode

, against a field of 38 including his previous winner Pineau de Re. Pre-race, favourite A. P. McCoy had odds of 7–1 riding

Shutthefrontdoor Shutthefrontdoor is a racehorse that won the Irish Grand National in 2014. Ridden by Barry Geraghty and starting at odds of 8/1, he finished 3/4 lengths clear of Golden Wonder. Shutthefrontdoor finished fifth in the 2015 Grand National and ni ...

, Aspell had odds of 25–1. Aspell's victory makes him the first back-to-back Grand National winner in over 40 years since

Red Rum Red Rum (3 May 1965 – 18 October 1995) was a champion Thoroughbred steeplechaser. He achieved an unmatched historic treble when he won the Grand National in 1973, 1974 and 1977, and also came second in the two intervening years, 1975 ...

with rider

Brian Fletcher Brian Fletcher (18 May 1947 – 11 January 2017) was an English jockey known for riding the horse Red Rum to win the Grand National in 1973 and 1974 and for second place in 1975. He first won the Grand National at the age of 20, in 1968 ridin ...

, and only the third since

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, along with

Bryan Marshall Bryan Marshall (19 May 1938 – 25 June 2019) was a British actor, with a number of major credits in film and television to his name, in both his native country and Australia. Early life Marshall was born in Battersea, south London. He was educ ...

. Aspell stated after the race that "that's the best ride I have had in the National", his riding won £561,300 from the £1 million pot.

Major wins

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...

Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England. First run in 1839, it is a handicap st ...

– (2)

(2014),

(2015) *

Welsh Grand National The Coral Welsh Grand National is a Premier Handicap National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Chepstow, Wales, over a distance of abo ...

– (2) Supreme Glory (2001), L'Aventure (2005) ---- Ireland *

– (1) United (2005)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aspell, Leighton 1976 births Living people Irish jockeys Irish expatriate sportspeople in the United Kingdom Equestrians from County Dublin Lester Award winners Equestrians from County Kildare