Tearful Mullins savours career peak after National success with son

Tearful Willie Mullins said he had reached the peak of his record-breaking career as a trainer after his jockey son Patrick led home an unprecedented 1-2-3 in the Grand National.

Victory confirmed the dominance of the Irish trainer, who saddled five of the first seven home, including winner Nick Rockett.

The Irish trainer is now odds-on to repeat his landmark success of last year by winning the British championship again.

"This is the summit for me, I don't think it can get any better than this. It's just huge. It's like something out of a Disney film," he said.

Nick Rockett won at Aintree from last year's winner I Am Maximus with fellow stablemate Grangeclare West in third.

Willie is normally coolness personified, the even-tempered master of jump racing.

Last year, when he became the first trainer to saddle 100 career winners at the Cheltenham Festival, he gave a tip of his trilby and a wave to the crowd.

But this was different. This was family.

"I don't know if I gave him a cheer, I was just speechless. I just broke down completely. I did for about 20 minutes after. I just couldn't help it, I just completely lost it," the 68-year-old told BBC Radio 5 Live.

Patrick, 35, is an amateur rider as a sideline to being his father's assistant at a training establishment in County Carlow that stands head and shoulders ahead of its jump racing rivals.

Standing at 6ft 1in tall, Patrick's height and weight of about 11st 7lb limit the rides he can take, but the rocket that is Nick Rockett proved the ideal conveyance.

"To have one horse run in the National, but then to have one your son can ride is millions, millions, millions-to-one what happened today," said Willie.

"It is just something else to be able to leg up your son in the greatest race of all time. You dream of winning it yourself but to dream of putting your son up - when he was born I said he couldn't be the jockey the size of him, but he's turned out to be a fantastic jockey."

Patrick is a student of the game, and the big race itself - devouring books on the history of this unique contest.

"I know the names of people who won the National nearly 200 years ago so to join that list is mind-blowing," he said, after winning the 177th running.

The Jockey Club said both long-time leader Broadway Boy, a heavy faller on the second circuit, and Celebre D'Allen - who was pulled up - were walked on to horse ambulances after being assessed on course by vets and taken to the racecourse stables for further assessment.

Willie Mullins was the first Irish trainer since the legendary Vincent O'Brien 70 years earlier to win the British championship in 2024.

He is now poised to catch long-time leader Dan Skelton this time in the title race which concludes at the end of April.

Having started the day £1m behind Skelton in prize money, he ate into that lead by £860,000 with the National result, and father and son even took the concluding race with Green Splendour.

So what does Patrick put the stable's success down to?

"It's my father's ambition. He's nearly 69 but he keeps wanting to get bigger and get better. I don't see him retiring, I just see him dying one day," he said.

On top of the emotion of seeing his son triumph, Willie was thinking of old school friend Sadie, the late wife of owner Stewart Andrew, who died from cancer just days after watching Nick Rockett's first win in 2022.

Andrew said: "Sadie's favourite colour was mustard and I always take that with me and I gave him a rub with it so it's worked, hasn't it?

"Somewhere up there she will be having a glass of champagne and kicking her heels up, which is what she would want me to do."