As one of the most keenly followed sporting events in the UK and Ireland, the Grand National at Aintree has the power to take a jockey to the next level, in terms of fame and status. Each year, 40 jockeys take part in the hope of emulating the great winners of the past, those who have proved themselves over the race’s four miles and 514 yards. 

One of those revered past winners is Leighton Aspell, who announced his retirement recently after a long and decorated career during which he won the Grand National twice consecutively in 2014 and 2015. That kind of achievement is rare, and Aspell retires with the maximum respect of trainers, jockeys and punters alike. 

Aspell’s double Grand National success is remarkable for the fact that each win came on a different horse, first with Pineau de Re in 2014, and then with Many Clouds a year later. He became the first jockey since Bryan Marshall in the 1950s to achieve such a feat, proof of Aspell’s champion qualities.

As he retires, it will be those two sensational triumphs that define his legacy in the sport. As with any sport, it is success in the biggest occasions that dictate how a jockey is remembered, and the Grand National is as tough a test as a jockey can face in his career. Aspell proved himself in the toughest arena horse racing has to offer, and he can enjoy his retirement in the knowledge that he has achieved what many jockeys can only dream of.

The 2014 Grand National arrived after 66/1 shot Auroras Encore had won the year before. That meant that those who bet on Grand National favourites were wary of outsiders, and while at 25/1 Pineau de Re was not quite as highly priced as the previous year’s victor, it was still a relative surprise when Aspell guided him to victory in a fine display. 

In the end, Pineau de Re won it by five lengths to deny Richard Johnson and Balthazar King and bring Aspell his maiden success in the showpiece race, having finished second on Supreme Glory in 2003. 

“It’s a wonderful day – this is what we do it for,” Aspell said at the time. “I’ve been watching the National since I was a very young boy. As much as you enjoy sharing everyone’s success, you crave a bit too. To get a chance to ride in the National is a great thing, and to get on one with a chance is even better.”

Aspell had even retired from the saddle in 2007, but the love of the sport brought him back two years later, hungrier to achieve more, and his commitment was rewarded with his first National triumph.

Most jockeys would be delighted to win the National once in their careers, but Aspell was to enjoy the sweetest taste of consecutive wins a year later, as he guided Many Clouds to victory in a fast-paced race, holding off Saint Are by a length-and-three-quarters to seal an outstanding achievement. “I’m delighted I’m leaving racing very much in love with it,” Aspell said recently. “We will have some time out, but I will always follow racing, and we will see what unfolds when the next chapter starts.”