Ireland-bred Nick Rockett led home a spectacular and historic 1-2-3 finish for an emotional Willie Mullins in the Grand National Handicap Chase as he denied stablemate I Am Maximus back-to-back victories at Aintree Racecourse April 5.
An outpouring of joy followed from the dominant champion trainer with his son, Patrick, the winning rider.
Nick Rockett was sent off at 33-1 and held off a late challenge from 7-1 I Am Maximus, who finished ahead of stablemate Grangeclare West, also 33-1. Iroko, the leading British contender for Oliver Greenall and Josh Guerriero, was the 13-2 favorite and finished fourth ahead of another Mullins runner Meetingofthewaters in fifth.
"I got too good of a start and I was having to take him back," Patrick Mullins said. "I thought I might have lost too much ground, but he jumped fantastically. He's a brilliant horse. He'd be one of the smallest in the field, but he's brave as a lion."
He said of the victory, "It's everything I've dreamed of as a kid."
Willie Mullins, responsible for five of the first seven home, is the first trainer to saddle the 1-2-3 in racing's grandest event. Only two trainers had trained the first two—Fred Withington (1908) and Henry de Bromhead (2021).
In doing so, he significantly closed the gap on Dan Skelton in the race to become champion trainer in Britain. Before the National, the former had more than a £1 million lead on his rival, but that gap now stands at just £150,161.
The winning trainer struggled to speak in his postrace television interviews, such was his emotion at the result, but did say: "This is the summit for me—I don't think anything can be better than this. I never thought it would happen, and here we are. It looks like the British championship might be on again. I think we'll have to have a real go now.
"To put your son up on a Grand National winner; what a special day for him, as a jockey and as a person. To win a Grand National as a trainer—wow, how wonderful. To have the two combined, I can't explain it. I can't comprehend it and I find it hard to take in."
Owner Stewart Andrew added, "Willie is unbelievable. We had a session in Melbourne seeing Vauban and Absurde and he said this was the plan. He said we'd win the Thyestes Chase, the Bobbyjo, and then we'll have a crack at Aintree. The man is a gentleman."
