A successful businessman, amateur jockey David Maxwell epitomised the Corinthian spirit within jump racing. He rode a total of 75 winners in Britain and one in Ireland.
He grew up in a racing family in Northern Ireland. His father Jeremy trained the 1988 Grand National winner Rhyme ‘N’ Reason as a young horse from their family yard before selling him.
He did not start race-riding in a meaningful way until his late twenties, with a first win under rules coming in the 2009/10 season.
He achieved his highest-level success on Cat Tiger in a Grade 3 chase at Auteuil in 2018, six days after he had bought the four-year-old at the sales in France.
However, his sole victory in Ireland was arguably the biggest day of his career when partnering Bob And Co to a nose victory over the Patrick Mullins-ridden Billaway in the Champion Hunters Chase at the Punchestown festival for Paul Nicholls in 2021.
He owned all the horses he rode and was amateur champion in the 2018/2019 and 2019/2020 seasons. He had many memorable days riding under rules in his red and brown silks. He competed against the top professionals in some of the biggest jump races and finished sixth in the 2024 Grand National on Ain’t That A Shame.
Other notable wins included Chef D’Equipe at Sandown Park in 2018 and a Cheltenham success with Dolphin Square on the course’s New Year's Day card in 2022 in a three-mile handicap hurdle.
Pretty much the last of the true Corinthians, on 15 September 2025 he announced his decision to stop riding on doctor’s advice after breaking his back for the fourth time.
Aged 47, he had not ridden since May, having discovered he had fractured his back in a fall in the previous month’s Foxhunters’ Chase at Aintree's Grand National meeting.
A member of the Jockey Club’s property board, he stated that although he would be selling his string of horses, he nonetheless aimed to stay involved in British racing as much as possible.