Davy Russell announced his second retirement from the saddle at Aintree
Senior jockey Davy Russell announced his second retirement from the saddle at Aintree on Saturday.
The forty-three-year-old initially retired on 18th December 2022 but returned to the weighing room a month later to assist former boss Gordon Elliott, whose stable jockey Jack Kennedy broke his leg in a fall.
It was apt for Russell to end his career at Aintree, having won the Grand National in 2018 and 2019 on Tiger Roll. He had enjoyed plenty of success at the meeting over the years securing victories in the Aintree Hurdle (G1) with Solwhit (2009) and the Maghull Novices’ Chase (G1) with Ornua (2019). Russell’s temporary return to the saddle had not yielded any winners at the 2023 Cheltenham Festival but he was repaid at Aintree with victories in the Mersey Novices’ Hurdle (G1) (Irish Point) and the Mildmay Novices’ Chase (G1) (Gerri Colombe).
Davy Russell was born in County Cork, Ireland and started his career in the point-to-point sphere, winning his first race in February 1999. He moved to the UK in 2002 to work for Ferdy Murphy at Middleham, North Yorkshire and gained numerous top-level wins with the yard over the next few years, including the Peter Marsh Chase with Trucker’s Tavern.
Russell landed the coveted role of stable jockey to Michael O’Leary’s Gigginstown House Stud in 2007 and enjoyed much success in the maroon-and-white colours including Tiger Roll’s historic victories in the Grand National. Although his role with Gigginstown famously ended on New Year’s Eve in 2013, he continued to ride for the team on occasion.
Davy Russell’s record at the Cheltenham Festival has been remarkably consistent throughout his career, with at least one victory at every Festival between 2006 and 2018. In 2018, he achieved a bumper year with wins in the RSA Novices’ Chase (G1) (Presenting Percy), Ryanair Chase (G1) (Balko Des Flos), Pertemps Final (Delta Work) and the Brown Advisory & Merribelle Stable Plate (The Storyteller). In 2014, Russell was victorious in the Blue Riband of jump racing, the Cheltenham Gold Cup (G1) with Lord Windermere.
In his retirement statement, Russell said, “This will be my last day. I’m 43 years of age and Jack Kennedy was waiting to take over the mantle, then unfortunately Jack got injured. Sam [Ewing] and Jordan [Gainford] were there, but we just felt we’d ease them in rather than just land it on them. If they had as bad a Cheltenham as I had, I’m not sure they’d have taken it as well as I did. It served its purpose.”
He finished, “I was happy enough to finish after Cheltenham, I’m big enough to accept it. I’m lucky I can go back in the years and remember them, but this really puts a shine on the trophy. Aintree is a marvellous place, and these big winners are hard to come by, so let’s enjoy them while they are here.”
