Davy Russell retired: Grand National-winning jockey has no regrets as he bows out fit and well after Thurles win | Racing News

Davy Russell is relieved to have ended his riding career “safe and sound” after bowing out with a winner at Thurles on Sunday.

The two-time Grand National-winning jockey, 43, announced his immediate retirement after steering Gordon Elliott’s Liberty Dance to victory in a Listed contest.

Russell’s time in the saddle looked like it might be over when he suffered a serious neck injury that included fractured and dislocated vertebrae in a heavy fall at Limerick in 2020, leading to an 11-month spell on the sidelines.

He ends his career as the eighth-most successful jump jockey of all-time, with a CV that includes three Irish Champion Jockey titles as well as Cheltenham Gold Cup glory on Lord Windermere in 2014.

“My biggest worry was that it would linger on for another couple of days until I got one [winner] done,” Russell told Sky Sports Racing. “It’s been on my mind for a week or so.

“Anytime is a good time once I was safe and sound, with nice horses to ride and before those kind of things petered out.

“You always wonder after a fall whether I’d still have it, but I wanted to come back riding because the recovery would’ve been an awful lot more difficult unless I had a goal.”

Despite his many successes, Russell’s name will forever be most fondly associated with Tiger Roll, winner of the Grand National in 2018 and 2019, becoming the first horse since Red Rum to win back-to-back renewals of the Aintree showpiece.

“Tiger Roll and the Grand National was that point of my career I’d dreamt about,” Russell explained. “I’d ridden so many winners of the race in my head as a child so to finally do it was a huge weight lifted off me.

“I wanted to be champion jockey and did that, I won Gold Cups and even a French Grand Steeplechase was a special day.

“I’m more surprised than anything [with his career achievements]. I’ve enjoyed every day and even the falls, the knocks and the bangs were just minor blips.

“Every day was a fairytale because I couldn’t believe I was getting the opportunities I was.

“Just to put on the britches and become a jockey was exciting to me but to move on and ride winners became an obsession as well.

“The last couple of years have been really enjoyable with the pressure kind of lifted off my shoulders.”

Russell saved a special mention to Tiger Roll’s trainer and his long-time friend Gordon Elliott.

“It’s a very special outfit,” Russell said. “It’s a measure of the man that the first message I got when I broke my neck was from him, saying: ‘Take your time, all the horses will be here when you come back’.

“He’s been so successful but never rests on his laurels. His attention to detail is unbelievable. He’s just a marvellous man to be around.”

A number of high-profile figures of the racing world, past and present, have paid tribute to Russell following his decision to retire.

Jockey James Bowen described Russell as “the best I’ve ever ridden against”, while Flat rider Rossa Ryan called him “one of the best in the business”.

“I’ve had the most beautiful messages over the last few hours and my phone is on fire,” Russell reflected. “Every one of them were heartfelt.

“There are some marvellous people you don’t really speak to on a regular basis but it’s been great to go back and share stories.

“Some people are actually very disappointed I’m retiring, which is nice in a way.

“When you’re in the bubble, sometimes you feel like you’re on your own but really there is an army of people behind you all the time.”

Russell revealed he now plans to spend more time in the bloodstock industry, buying and selling horses from his farm in Ireland.

Asked what he will miss most, a typically humorous Russell replied: “The cheque at the end of the month!”