The Willie Mullins bandwagon rolled into Aintree, bagged plenty of winners during the three days, and, more importantly, would go on to win the big race of the meeting, the Aintree Grand National.
Not only did Mullins land the win with Nick Rockett, but he would actually train the first three home in the race, a headline-making 1-2-3. If there was any doubt he sits at the top of racing, then he’s proven yet again just how good he is.
It was a family affair for Team Mullins, as Patrick Mullins, his son, trained Nick Rockett, and he became the fourth member of the family to win the Grand National. Alongside his father, cousins David and Emmet have also won the big one during their careers, as the family continues to be a dominant force in the sport.
Second in the race was I Am Maximus, winner of the race 12 months ago. He ran a cracker under top weight under Paul Townend. He was one of a few well-backed runners in the build up, and though he didn’t go off favourite on the day, was heavily supported.
It looked as though he would come and swoop late to win again, but in the closing stakes, Nick Rockett found more and pulled clear again.
In third place, Grangeclare West would round off the Mullins trio being the first home, another horse who ran a cracker for the stable.
It wasn’t just Mullins who dominated the race, but the Irish as a whole. Eight of the first 10 to finish the race were trained in Ireland, with UK runners taking 4th (Iroko) and 10th (Twig). Whether it’s Mullins or someone else in Ireland, it seems the UK just can’t keep up right now in racing.
Grand National Prize Money Ignites Trainers Championship Battle
There’s a subplot to Willie Mullins’s Grand National win, which is the UK Trainers Championship. Seemingly heading the way of Dan Skelton before the Grand National meeting, Willie Mullins had a fantastic three days and won the big one he needed to really close the gap in the title race.
He said immediately after the Grand National win that after winning that big pot, he’d be targeting plenty of meetings in the UK with his runners from now until the end of the season in a bid to land the prize again.
And he wasn’t wrong. He’s got at least one runner entered in every race at Ayr on Saturday, with a total of 40 horses entered across the card. That includes 11 in the Scottish Grand National and seven in the Scottish Champion Hurdle.
While Dan Skelton is probably not feeling too great about it all right now, if you’re a general horse racing fan, then the predicament that Willie Mullins finds himself in is excellent for us.
We should see plenty of his runners over here, bringing to life some of the end of season meetings over jumps that often feel a little flat & missing a spark. That shouldn’t be the case for most weekends from now until the Sandown finale, so strap yourself in and get ready for what should be an excellent few weeks to end the season.
