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Heart trouble
Steven LynchNovember 20, 2014
Which Grand National-winning jockey later had a heart transplant? asked Kevin Giles
This is Pat Taaffe, who won the Grand National at Aintree twice - on Quare Times in 1955 and Gay Trip in 1970.
Taaffe's most famous partnership, though, was with the legendary Arkle: they won a host of races together in the mid-1960s, including a hat-trick of Cheltenham Gold Cups from 1964 to 1966.
Taaffe also won the Irish Grand National on Arkle in 1964 - one of his six victories in the race at Fairyhouse.
Taaffe turned to training after retirement, and sent out Captain Christy to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1974. But he developed health problems, leading to a heart transplant in 1991: sadly he died the following year, aged only 62.
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