Jockey

Leighton Aspell retired from the saddle, for the second and final time, on February 23, 2020, after failing to complete the course on Ventura Dragon, trained by Oliver Sherwood, in a handicap hurdle at Fontwell. By that stage, he had ridden a total of 909 winners under National Hunt rules in Britain, but is best remembered for winning back-to-back renewals of the Grand National in 2014 and 2015.

On the first occasion, Aspell steered Pineau De Re, trained by Dr. Richard Newland, to a victory in the Aintree showpiece and said afterwards, ‘Even to get a ride in the Grand National is a great thing, but to get one with a live chance is even better.’ Little did he know that he would be presented with his next ‘live chance’ just 12 months later, in the form of another 25/1 chance, the doughty Many Clouds, also trained by Sherwood, on whom he had already won the Hennessy Gold Cup (now the Coral Gold Cup) at Newbury the previous November.

Born in County Kildare on June 12, 1976, Aspell moved from Ireland to Britain as a 16-year-old, where he followed in the footsteps of the likes of Pat Eddery, Kevin Darley and Walter Swinburn by becoming apprenticed to Reg Hollinshead at Upper Longdon, Staffordshire. He rode the first of his 11 winners on the Flat, Prime Painter, trained by Roger Fisher, in a four-runner apprentices’ handicap at Hamilton on May 26, 1993 and the last, C’Est No Mour, trained by Peter Hedegr, in the Jump Jockeys’ Derby Handicap at Epsom on September 14, 2017.

Always destined to become a National Hunt jockey, Aspell opened his account ‘over the sticks’ on Karar, trained by Richard Rowe, in a novices’ handicap hurdle at Huntingdon on May 17, 1995. Thereafter, he racked up aound 400 winners, with high-profile victories in the Swinton Handicap Hurdle at Haydock and the Welsh Grand National (twice), before announcing his shock retirement, aged 31, in July 2007. Having originally said that he ‘just wasn’t getting much of a kick out of it any more’, he joined John Dunlop as pupil assistant, but found the lure of the Grand National impossible to resist and was back in the saddle 18 months later.

In 2023, Rossa Ryan enjoyed far and away his most successful season so far, numerically and fiscally, finishing the year with 202 winners from 1,090 rides at a strike rate of 19% and amassing over £3.6 million in total prize money. He was also a ‘punters’ pal’, accruing a healthy level stakes profit of £109.24. The vagaries of the Flat Jockeys’ Championship meant that, despite being the most prolific jockey in the country for the calendar year, he did not become Champion Jockey. Nevertheless, Ryan, who turned 24 on July 3, 2024, has continued the good work in the new season. At the time of writing, since the start of the Flat Jockeys’ Championship, on May 4, 2024, he has ridden 52 winners from 293 rides, at a strike rate of 18%, and currently lies third on the table.

Aside from passing the significant milestone of over 200 winners, 2023 was also a red-letter year for Ryan insofar that, on July 15, he rode his first Group 1 winner, Shaquille, trained by Julie Camacho, in the July Cup at Newmarket. Sadly, his first ride in the Derby proved less fruitful, with his mount, Macduff, trained by Ralph Beckett, only able to finish a distant thirteenth of 15 finishers, 29½ lengths behind the winner, City Of Troy.

Born and raised in Ballinderry, near Tuam, Co. Galway, Rossa Ryan is, of course, the son of trainer David Ryan. A graduate from pony racing, in which he was hugely successful, Ryan Jnr. Rode his first winner under Rules, Solar Heat, trained by Dot Love, in an apprentices’ handicap at Dundalk on December 9, 2016. The following January he became apprenticed to Wiltshire trainer Richard Hannon and, in 2019, finished runner-up in the apprentices’ title race. In 2020, Ryan accepted a retainer from Amo Racing, under the auspices of football agent Kia Joorabchian, and although that association came to an end in 2022 his career has continued to flourish.

Born and raised in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, Richard Kingscote spent much of his spare time in his early teenage years riding ponies on Brean Beach, a seven-mile stretch of sand just a mile or two down the coast from his hometown. He subsequently attended the British Racing School, on the Snailwell Road in Newmarket, and on completion of a mandatory jockeys’ licence course became apprenticed to Roger Charlton at Beckhampton Stables, near Marlborough,Wiltshire.

By his own admission, Kingscote was anything but an instant success, but nonetheless rode his first winner, Maystock, trained by Gerard Butler, in an apprentices’ handicap at Lingfield on November 10, 2004. The Magic Ring mare proved to be just one of two winners in his inaugural campaign, but he improved his tally to 31, 33 and 44 winners in subsequent seasons.

In August 2007, Kingscote was offered the job as stable jockey to Tom Dascombe at Manor House Stables in Malpas, Cheshire. He had to wait a few years for his first Group 1 winner, Brown Panther, trained by Dascombe, in the Irish St. Leger at the Curragh on September 14, 2014, but has since added three more to his career tally. He won the Flying Five Stakes, back at the Curragh, on Havana Grey, trained by Karl Burke, on September 16, 2018 and, having headed south in search of richer pickings with ten-time champion Sir Michael Stoute, won the Derby on Desert Crown on June 4, 2022 and the Champion Stakes on Bay Bridge on October 15, 2022.

Kingscote rode over a hundred winners for the first time in 2016 and did so again in four of the next five seasons. Following his move to Freemason Lodge in Newmarket, he fell just two short of another century in 2022, but his two Group 1 victories – Desert Crown was, in fact, just his second ride in the Derby – boosted his total prize money to over £3.2 million, making it far and away his most successful season, financially, so far.

Sir Gordon Richards was conferred a knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II in the Coronation Honours List in 1953 in recognition of his services to horse racing. A few days later, he won the so-called ‘Coronation Derby’ on Pinza, trained by Norman Bertie and, in so doing, beat Aureole, owned by Her Majesty, four lengths into second place. That victory was Richards’ first in the Epsom Classic, after 27 previous defeats and, at the time of his retirement in 1954, he told Pathé News that it was the greatest moment of his career.

Of course, Richards was no stranger to Classic success. In his illustrious, 34-year riding career he also won the St. Leger five times, on Singapore (1930), Chulmleigh (1937), Turkhan (1940), Sun Chariot (1942) and Tehran (1944), the 1,000 Guineas and 2,000 Guineas three times apiece, on Sun Chariot (1942), Queenpot (1948) and Belle of All (1951) and Pasch (1938), Big Game (1942) and Tudor Minstrel (1947), respectively, and the Oaks twice, on Rose of England (1930) and Sun Chariot(1942).

Richards was forced into retirement, after breaking his pelvis in a paddock accident at Sandown Park, but rode 4,870 winners during his career and was Champion Jockey 26 times, making him arguably the most successful jockey in racing history. Born in Donnington Wood, Telford, Shropshire on May 5, 1904, Richards rode his first winner, Gay Lord, at Leicester on March 31, 1921. After completing his apprenticeship with Martin Hartigan, he subsequently enjoyed hugely successful spells as stable jockey to Captain Thomas Hogg, Fred Darling and Noel Murless.

In 1947, Richards rode Tudor Minstrel – who, decades later, remains the joint-third highest-rated Flat horse in the history of Timeform – to an eight-length victory in the 2,000 Guineas and eventually became Champion Jockey for the twentieth time, with 269 winners. In so doing, he set a record for the number of winners in a season that would stand until fellow knight of the realm, Sir Anthony McCoy, edged past his total on Valfonic in a handicap hurdle at Worcester on May 22, 2002.