Cotswolds-based National Hunt trainer Kim Bailey, who won the the Grand National with Mr Frisk, reflects on the magical ingredients in this year’s race
That was as good a Randox Grand National result as you could have wished for. The Aintree race always has a story and my God it did not disappoint this year.
Willie Mullins trained the first three home and five of the first seven. “Oh, how boring,” you might think if you looked at the result on paper. But not if you had watched the race. In real time, the brilliant television coverage caught it all.
There was great drama from the start, which for once went smoothly. The sun shone and the racecourse was packed with colour.
Watching the horses charge down to the famous, if slightly diminished, Becher’s Brook was a sight to behold. As the race unfolded, you could imagine any of several horses winning the race with the ever-changing ebb and flow of the runners at the front.
Then, two from home, you could see that Willie Mullins held a huge hand. It looked all the way up the run-in that last year’s winner I Am Maximus was going to triumph again, but there was Patrick Mullins on Nick Rockett creeping closer and, 100 yards from the winning post, the battle was won.
Now if you thought the race held plenty of drama, then you were in for a huge wave of emotion watching the Mullins family left speechless. They were totally overcome by the fact their only son Patrick had just won the biggest race in the world.
The television cameras panned on a shell-shocked Willie who looked totally overcome. Five minutes later, Matt Chapman with the ITV Racing crew grabbed Willie who, for the very first time in his public life, just could not speak as he was so choked up.
The tears, joy and emotion that racing’s most famous trainer showed left lumps in the throats of many watching. It was an extraordinary moment of television.
A mix of emotions
The Grand National winner always has a story and away from the Mullins family for a moment, the winning owner Stewart Andrew revealed it was his late wife Sadie who convinced Willie Mullins to train the winner.
Stewart said, “Nick Rockett wasn’t my horse, it was my wife’s horse, and she wanted a horse in training with Willie. She had her holy communion with him.
“We bumped into him by chance at Cheltenham sales and Sadie said, ‘Why don’t we get Willie to buy a horse for us?’”
Stewart responded, “Well if you want to get Willie to buy a horse, Sadie, buy a horse.” And she did. As they say, the rest is history.
The sadness was that Stewart’s wife Sadie died in 2022 after watching her horse finish fourth in a bumper at Fairyhouse.
Horse welfare on a hot day
Horse welfare played its part on a hot day at Aintree. Nick Rockett was taken off to be washed down and cooled off after the race so no horse returned to the winner’s enclosure.
Patrick Mullins – not to be without a mount – rode piggyback into the winner’s enclosure on Nick Rockett’s owner Stewart Andrew, celebrating as he went. And why not?
The vibes were brilliant, the race yet again held us all on tenterhooks. Can you imagine how proud you would be if it was your son who had just ridden a Grand National winner, and you trained it? Magical stuff.
The Grand National proved once again why it’s a race of dreams and drama. This year’s race has every right to have a huge chapter written about it in the history book of the world’s most famous horse race.
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