The ill-fated Many Clouds made headlines for all the wrong reasons when, on January 28, 2017, having beaten Thistlecrack, hitherto undefeated over fences, by a head in the Cotswold Chase at Cheltenham, collapsed and died due to severe pulmonary haemorrhage. He is best remembered, though, for winning the Grand National in 2015, which he did under second-top weight of 11st 9lb in a time of 8 minutes and 56.8 seconds, the second fastest time in history.
Owned by Trevor Hemmings, trained by Oliver Sherwood and ridden, in all 27 of his starts under Rules, including the Grand National, by Leighton Aspell, Many Clouds was always prominent at Aintree and left in the lead when The Druids Nephew slithered to the ground and unseated Aidan Coleman at the fence after Valentine’s Brook on the second circuit. Thereafter, he was never headed, but, having held a three-length lead at the final fence, had to be kept up to his work close home to maintain his advantage over Saint Are, who stayed on well to finish second, beaten a length-and-three-quarters.
Many Clouds was, in fact, a second National winner in as many years for Aspell, who rode Pineau De Re to victory in 2014. He was also the first horse in history to complete the Hennessy Gold Cup/Grand National double in the sames season. Indeed, he had also started 7/1 joint-second favourite for the Cheltenham Gold Cup, in which he finished a never-threatening sixth, hence his seemingly generous starting price of 25/1 at Aintree. Aspell said of him, “He’s all heart and he gave me the best ride I have ever had over these fences. I was just hoping that the battery life would last.”
Many Clouds ran in the Grand National again, off a 5lb higher mark than the previous year, in 2016. He was sent off at 8/1 joint-favourite but, having reportedly suffered a breathing problem, was virtually pulled up after the final fence and walked up the run-in to finish tailed off last of 16 finishers behind Rule The World. He won once more, at Aintree in December 2016, before meeting his tragic demise at Cheltenham the following momth.