Nick Rockett, a 33-1 shot ridden by Patrick Mullins, on Saturday won the Grand National steeplechase at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England, in a top three sweep for horses trained by the Irish amateur jockey’s father, Willie.
Last year’s winner, I Am Maximus (7/1), finished second, two and a half lengths behind, and Grangeclare West (33/1) was third a further half-length back with another Mullins horse, Meetingofthewaters, in fifth.
Iroko, the 13-2 favorite, was fourth in a race with a total prize fund of ￡1 million (US$1.29 million), with ￡500,000 to the winner.
Photo: AFP
Five of the top seven horses were trained by Mullins, but Nick Rockett was the emotional winner in the colors of Stewart Andrew and co-owner wife Sadie, who died of cancer in December 2022 after entrusting the horse to Mullins.
“It was some result. It is lovely to be able to give your son a ride in the National, but to be able to win it is just unbelievable,” Willie Mullins told ITV Racing as he fought back the tears.
Patrick Mullins, whose father has back-to-back National wins and career third after Hedgehunter in 2005, said it was a childhood dream come true.
“I know it’s a cliche, but when I was five or six years old, reading books about the National and watching black-and-white videos of Red Rum. To put my name there is very special,” the jockey said.
Owner Andrew said Nick Rockett had been “different class.”
“Everybody had written the horse off, he’d drifted into the betting. He won the best two trials in Ireland easily. He’s a class horse and has the heart of a lion,” he said.
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