NICK ROCKETT & Patrick Mullins win Randox Grand National to lead home 1-2-3-5-7 for Willie Mullins скачать в хорошем качестве

NICK ROCKETT & Patrick Mullins win Randox Grand National to lead home 1-2-3-5-7 for Willie Mullins

Willie Mullins would not need a ferry cross the Mersey, he could simply walk over it. The all-conquering trainer saddled the first three home in the Randox Grand National at Aintree on Saturday with his son, Patrick, taking the glory aboard Nick Rockett. I Am Maximus (7-1), winner of the race last year, was a gallant second under top weight, with Grangeclare West (33-1) completing a famous 1-2-3. Iroko, sent off the13-2 favourite, did his best to halt the Mullins monopoly, being the first home for the British-trained horses in fourth. For good measure, Mullins Sr was also responsible for Meetingofthewaters (fifth) and Minella Cocooner (seventh). The great race, first run in 1839, has never been dominated quite like this, and the 2025 edition will now be forever remembered as "The Mullins National". The emotional trainer could barely speak after the race, fighting back tears live on ITV. "That was some result," he said. "It's lovely to be able to give your son a ride in the National, but to win it, it's unbelievable." The pair also teamed up to win the final race of the day to cap a remarkable meeting. Mullins Sr scooped five Grade One races over the three days plus the Topham, having also had another ten winners at the Cheltenham Festival last month. Nick Rockett was clearly travelling strongly coming to the final fence and he galloped away from his stablemate I Am Maximus to win by two and a half lengths. There was a further half-length back to Grangeclare West in third, with Iroko keeping on in fourth. Amateur rider Mullins told ITV Racing moments after winning the £1million race: "I had too good a start and was having to take him back all the way. I was wondering at Canal Turn had I lost too much ground, but he just jumped fantastic. "Then I was there too soon and it is a long way from the back of the last with Paul Townend (on I Am Maximus) on my outside. "It's everything I've dreamed of since I was a kid, 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." Mullins Jr is the latest in the family to have won the race, with his cousins David and Emmet having won the race, the first-named as a jockey with Rule The World and the second as a trainer with Noble Yeats. He said: "David and Emmet have already won it so I'm level with them, so (cousin) Danny will have to pull his finger out now." Nick Rockett was dismounted after the line and the winning rider added: "The horse is fine and I wouldn't mind going for a cold bath now myself. "He's just a brilliant horse. He'd be one of the smallest in the field but he's as brave as a lion." Also full of emotion was owner Stewart Andrew, whose wife Sadie died in December 2022, just five days after watching Nick Rockett in his first race. Andrew said: "This a class horse, he's got the heart of a lion. From a personal point of view, I can't tell you. Sadie would have loved today - she was up there, she'll have had a tenner each-way, I guarantee you. "What a ride from Patrick, what a ride. I knew if we got to the front jumping the last, this horse is tough. If you look at this form, when he's jumped the last, he keeps finding. I can't believe it." I Am Maximus was seeking to become a rare back-to-back winner, plus the first horse to give weight all round since Tiger Roll in 1974. He gave his all, with jockey saying he was "sickened" to get beat. "Maybe he'd enjoy more of an ease in the ground, but there's no excuses really. He's run a huge race again, it's just hard with top-weight," said Townend. "He took me through the race better last year probably. I'm sickened to be beat." Sixteen of the 34 runners completed. There were three fallers, including the front-running Broadway Boy, who fell heavily at the 25th fence when still in the lead. The Nigel Twiston-Davies-trained seven-year-old received lengthy medical treatment before walking onto the horse ambulance and returning to the stables for further assessment. His jockey, Tom Bellamy, was also taken to hospital with a suspected broken wrist. Celebre d’Allen was sent off a 125-1 shot under Micheal Nolan, with the rider pulling up the Philip Hobbs and Johnson White-trained runner after jumping the final fence. The 13-year-old then collapsed on the racecourse, but following treatment, he was able to walk into the ambulance to be taken back to the stables for veterinary care. Dan Skelton began the Grand National meeting with one hand on his first trainers' title, but must now fear the worst. On Saturday morning he had a £930,000 buffer over Mullins, but the latter's National runners alone picked up £860,000. "I'm never going to have another day like this, it can't get any better," Mullins told Niall Hannity on Racing TV after the final race. #horseracing #horse #horses