The special meaning behind Willie Mullins’s dominance at the Grand National
Nick Rockett’s victory carried particular resonance for the Mullins family and owner Stewart Andrew at Aintree
Look up “Dominance” in any English dictionary these days and the name WP Mullins could well be found.
The phenomenon of modern-day National Hunt racing continues to rewrite the record books courtesy of an emotional victory for Nick Rockett – with his son, amateur rider Patrick aboard – in the 2025 Grand National, sending a meteoric training career stratospheric.
Not content with simply training the winner of the world’s biggest horse race, Mullins despatched the 1-2-3, with last year’s hero I Am Maximus carried out on his shield in second under Paul Townend two-and-a-half lengths behind, while another inmate from the Closutton stables, Grangeclare West, third for rider Bryan Hayes a further half-length adrift.
To reinforce the Closutton dominance Meetingofthewaters claimed fifth, while Minella Cocooner was seventh, meaning that only Appreciate It, who was unfortunate to be brought down by Kandoo Kid on the second circuit, finished out of the first seven from the six runners saddled by Mullins.
In a 34-runner race with 30 fences over four-and-a-quarter miles, it represented an incredible achievement, even for a man that sent out the 1-2-3-4-5 in a Grade 1 event at Cheltenham last year. It also took his week’s tally at Aintree to eight winners.
The feat wasn’t lost on an ecstatic winning rider.
“Willie getting me to win a National is his greatest achievement,” cackled Patrick Mullins as the realisation of his triumph began to sink in.
Mullins senior is used to winning – a lot. But this victory carried a special resonance.
He said: “I don’t think it gets any better than this. To sire the winning rider, train the winner and have Jackie and everyone here ... The way we planned this with Stewart [owner Stewart Andrew], over $10 bottles of wine down in Australia.”
Nick Rockett was the pride and joy of Andrew’s late wife Sadie. She passed away from cancer in December 2022, just days after witnessing her purchase make his debut in a Fairyhouse bumper.
Andrew said: “Sometimes life takes us down roads that none of want to go down, and when we’re there, we can end up in not the best places. Nick was Sadie’s horse. She’d asked Willie to find her a horse.
“Sadly, just before he was ready to run, we found out she had terminal cancer on 17 November, sadly she passed away on 8 [December 2022]. Willie ran him just to let Sadie see him. He finished fourth and Sadie said, ‘He’s run a massive race, he’s not fit, but when we get him fit, he will win’.
“We had a session in Melbourne going down to see Absurde and Vauban, and because of said trainer, we were late for the restaurant so we ended up slumming it at two o’clock in the morning somewhere – I can tell you how classy it was, the wine list was ‘red or white’!
“Wille said then, ‘This is the plan: we’re going to win the Thyestes, we’re going to win the Bobbyjo, and then have a crack at Aintree’. What can you say? The man is a gentleman.”
Mullins picked up the story: “All great plans come together. I went to school with Sadie years ago and met her years later at a sale. We went for a cup of tea at Cheltenham one day and she said, ‘We must buy a horse’, and here we are
“My mother’s not here, father’s not here, I’d love to have my parents here. To give your son a leg up in the National is one thing, for him to win it, is off the charts in my book. This is the summit for me, I don’t think it can get any better than this. It’s just huge. Now I know how Ted Walsh felt when Ruby won it for him. I never thought I’d have that feeling.”
Just for good measure, the duo combined to win the final event of a pulsating week on Merseyside when Green Splendour landed the bumper for, you’ve guessed it, his father.
Liverpool hasn’t seen dominance like it since Shankly and Paisley.
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