Aspell 'privileged' to ride Many Clouds

Many Clouds' jockey Leighton Aspell says he is still coming to terms with the death of his "horse of a lifetime".

The 2015 Grand National winner collapsed and died moments after recording a narrow victory over Thistlecrack in the Cotswold Chase at Cheltenham on Saturday.

Animal Aid's horse racing consultant, Dene Stansall, wrote to the British Horseracing Authority last year to ask them to withdraw the horse from the 2016 Grand National because he struggled for oxygen in previous races.

Aspell, who rode Many Clouds to National success at Aintree, says the 10-year-old had suffered "overheating problems" in the past but seemed race-fit otherwise.

"He suddenly started getting wobbly in his hind legs, he sat down, then he lay down and died," Aspell told The Times.

"Something drastic happened internally. I imagine he had a haemorrhage or ruptured an aorta or had a heart attack. You could see instantly he was gone by the look in his eyes and the colour of his gums. We lost him pretty quickly. The lights simply went out."

Aspell, who rode Many Clouds in all 27 of his races, says the gelding was "a jockey’s dream" to ride.

"It was a privilege to have been part of such a wonderful partnership," he continued.

"He had physical strength, mental strength and outstanding ability. That is a very rare thing in a racehorse. They might have one or two of those attributes but to have all three is very rare and only the best have that."

Photo Getty Images/Alex Livesey

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