Earth Summit ~ 1998 Grand National Winner
The photo above shows jockey Carl Llewellyn riding the 1998 Grand National winner Earth Summit.
Earth Summit, the 7-1 favourite, won the1998 Grand National at Aintree giving jockey Carl Llewellyn his second victory after previously winning on Party Politics in 1992.
The weather had a big impact on the 1998 National making it exceptionally difficult for spectators who had endured long queues to get into Aintree due to the increased levels of security following the previous year's IRA bomb alert.
Torrential rain had also turned the going to soft, heavy in places making it only the fifth National since 1977 to have been run on truly soft ground.
Earth Summit pulled clearahead of Suny Bay before the second last, running on to win the biggest horse race in the world by eleven lengths and making him the only horse in history that has ever won the Aintree Grand National and the Scottish and Welsh equivalents.
Jockey ~ Carl Llewellyn
Born on July 29, 1965, in Pembrokeshire, Wales, Carl Llewellyn served his apprenticeship with Stan Mellor and Jim Old. Rode his first winner on Starjestic at Wolverhampton on March 14, 1986. Carl continues to race ride and has now ridden 976 winners to date.
He spent nineteen years as stable jockey to Nigel Twiston Davies and had heavy involvement with life behind the scenes as well as living life in the spotlight with big race wins aboard such horses as Grand National winners Earth Summit in 1998 and Party Politics in 1992.
Carl has now turned his hand to training at Weathercock House in Berkshire which is steeped in history with countless big race winners being trained here including Gold Cup and Grand National winners. The aim is to develop this yard into one of the most up-to-date training complexes in the country.
Trainer ~ Nigel Twiston-Davies
Nigel Twiston-Davies is more commonly known as one of the best horse trainers in the country but he started out rising as an amateur for 6 years for a range of trainers including Fred Winter, Fred Rimell and Kim Bailey.
He moved to the Cotswolds in 1981 and took out a permit to train with his first winner, Last Of The Foxes, at Hereford in 1982. The horse that did most to establish the yard in the early years was Mrs Muck and there's been a steady line of her relatives in training at Naunton ever since.
Since his full licence was granted in 1989, he has trained well over 1200 winners including two at the Grand National, three at the Scottish Grand National, two at the Welsh National and a further eight at the Cheltenham Festival.
Add successes in the Hennessey Gold Cup, Great Yorkshire Chase, Becher Chase, Midlands National, Sussex National, Scottish and Welsh Champion Hurdles and many other top prizes and his versatility and record with N.H. stock is self-evident.
His best season, judged purely by number of successes, was 2007/8 when Grange Hill Farm welcomed home 87 winners.
