Death of a national treasure: Many Clouds jumps one last hurdle in beating Thistlecrack

Seconds after the former Grand National hero had caused the shock of the racing season in beating so-called wonder horse Thistlecrack, he collapsed and died at Cheltenham.

Many Clouds and Leighton Aspell, the only jockey to have ridden him in a race, mastered Thistlecrack up the fearsome Cheltenham hill. The horse had slain his foe by calling on the reserves of courage and stamina that saw him defy a huge weight to win the Aintree showpiece in 2015.

Somehow trainer Oliver Sherwood composed himself to pay a fitting tribute in which he called him the “horse of a lifetime”.

He said: “I always said he would die for you and he’s died for me and the team today doing what he does best.

PA

Many Clouds (right) beat Thistlecrack but died at the winning post today

PA

Many Clouds (right) and Thistlecrack were on a trial run for the Cheltenham Festival

PA

Many Clouds collapsed after pipping Thistlecrack to the post

“He wanted to win that race, he was beaten and then fought back in the last 50 yards to win.

“The public get to know the horses, especially horses that try for you, they appreciated what he had done and he captured your imagination. Time will tell if it was a heart attack.”

Many Clouds was one of the finest specimens of a National Hunt horse that you’ll ever see. He caught the eye of jump racing purists from the day he made his racecourse debut at Wetherby in February 2012 when he glided to victory in a bumper.

It was obvious then he had a serious engine. He was useful over hurdles but was made for jumping fences and was typical of the type of jumper owned by Trevor Hemmings.

Grand National 2016
Sat, April 9, 2016

All the action from The Grand National Aintree Festival 2016

Play slideshow

Reuters

1 of 58

Raceday at Grand National Aintree

It was obvious then he had a serious engine. He was useful over hurdles but was made for jumping fences and was typical of the type of jumper owned by Trevor Hemmings.

He won the Hennessy Gold Cup in 2014 and the Argento Chase the following January and although he fell just below Cheltenham Gold Cup class his biggest day in the sun came in April 2015 when he won the world’s greatest steeplechase at Aintree under 11st 9lb, the highest winning weight since Red Rum in 1977.

Many Clouds travelled and jumped beautifully in his races. And in Leighton Aspell he had the perfect bedfellow: cool-headed and confident. Yesterday Aspell would have been the first to comfort the horse after he keeled over at Cheltenham after he burst the biggest bubble in racing in beating the mighty Thistlecrack. He died doing what he did best.

Original Article