Willie Mullins pulls off ‘another extraordinary feat’ just 24 hours after £860,000 Grand National heroics
WILLIE MULLINS pulled off ‘another extraordinary feat’ just 24 hours after his Grand National heroics.
The prize money on offer at Fairyhouse paled into comparison to the £860,000 the Closutton boss netted at Aintree thanks in part to Nick Rockett’s 33-1 win.
But the all-conquering handler actually went one better at the Irish track.
Where at Aintree he got four of the first five horses home, Mullins got the whole 1-2-3-4-5 in a Grade 2 hurdle – something the Racing Post called ‘another extraordinary feat’.
First past the post in the Donohue Marquees Novice Hurdle was Supreme seventh Irancy.
The 5-1 JP McManus-owned seven-year-old, ridden by Mark Walsh, saw off 4-5 fav Karniquet, the mount of Rachael Blackmore.
Mullins also trained third-place Belloccio, a 12-1 pick steered by Danny Mullins, who came fifth in the National on Meetingofthewaters.
Fourth was Gaucher, sent off 6-1 under Brian Hayes, while fifth, some five-and-a-half lengths behind the winner, was 33-1 Runcok for owner Simon Munir and Isaac Souede.
Timothy Doyle and Henry de Bromhead were the only other trainers to get a look in.
Their horses Beauforts Storm and Downmexicoway finished sixth and seventh, while Mullins rounded out the eight-runner field with 7-1 Sea Of Sands.
The result lined Mullins‘ pockets even more with the first five home being worth £31,744.
But he was already on cloud nine after reaching the pinnacle of his career at the Merseyside track.
The usually unflappable Mullins broke down in tears on live TV as he spoke of what the enormity of having son Patrick ride the winner of the National meant to him.
Wife Jackie was on hand for hugs too as the Mullins clan celebrated the miracle win.
It was a fairytale story for owner Stewart Andrew too – after he lost his wife Sadie to cancer.
The party carried long into the night, with Patrick admitting he was still wearing Saturday’s clothes for the flight home the following morning.
He said: “I can confirm we didn’t make the 8.15pm flight out of Manchester.
“Myself, Sara Rose (girlfriend), Brian Hayes and Rachael Blackmore stayed.
“We had a bite to eat and then went out for a few hours afterwards in Liverpool.
“We did manage to skip one long queue into a well-known nightclub so that was one immediate benefit of winning the Grand National!”
Mullins Snr will now go all out attempting to land the British Jumps Trainers’ title.
He won it last year thanks in part to winning the National with I Am Maximus, and followed up in the Scottish National too.
Mullins will be sending a whole host of runners over in the next few weeks as he bids to see off Dan Skelton for the second year in a row.
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