Gordon Elliott

Gordon Elliott Cheltenham , United Kingdom - 9 March 2020; Trainer Gordon Elliott on the gallops ahead of the Cheltenham Racing Festival at Prestbury Park in Cheltenham, England. (Photo By Harry Murphy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

Gordon Elliott was born on 2 March 1978 and is a multiple Grand National, Gold Cup and Royal Ascot winning racehorse trainer based at Cullentra House in Longwood, Co Meath, Ireland.

He has trained over 1,000 winners between Ireland and Britain during his career.

He was 29 when his first Grand National entry, the 33-1 outsider Silver Birch, won the 2007 race, making him the youngest trainer to ever win the Grand National, having taken out his license in 2006.

In 2018 and 2019 he won the Grand National with Tiger Roll, ridden by Davy Russell and owned by Gigginstown House Stud, the first horse since Red Rum to win the race twice.

In 2018 he also won the Irish Grand National, with General Principle.

On two occasions, in 2017 and 2018, he was the top trainer at the Cheltenham Festival.

Gordon isn’t from a racing background – his father was a panel-beater – but he entered the racing world when he was 13, working for trainer Tony Martin at weekends and during holidays.

He took out a licence as an amateur jockey when he was 16, riding in both point-to-points and under Rules.

He went on to ride a total of 200 point-to-point winners and 46 winners under Rules. He retired as a jockey through injury in 2005.

On 28 February 2021, the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) launched an investigation into an image of Elliott, which was widely circulated on social media, sitting on a dead horse and making a peace sign. On 5 March 2021, the IHRB convened a hearing and banned Elliott from racing for 12 months with six months suspended, leaving him unable to train or attend a race meeting or point-to-point until September 2021.