• Dual Grand National winning jockey insists it is final this time• Solo now tops Cheltenham Festival’s Triumph Hurdle bettingLeighton Aspell has hung up his boots for the second time and this time they will stay hung up, or so he insists. The decision which appeared rash at 31 is undoubtedly rational at 43 and the Dubliner has accumulated so many great memories in the interim that he can reflect on his career with satisfaction.
Such was not the case when he drew stumps in the summer of 2007, obeying an urge so surprising that the trainer Oliver Sherwood almost fell over when he heard of it. “Deep down, I’ve not been happy,” was the verdict at the time from Aspell, who had been riding enough winners to keep going but not to slake his ambition.