Latest news with #Bobbyjo
Irish Daily Mirror
22-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Daily Mirror
Ted Walsh pays tribute to 'great horse' Any Second Now as retirement confirmed
Ted Walsh paid tribute to Any Second Now after watching his veteran finish second in the Irish Grand National once again on Easter Monday. The JP McManus-owned gelding ran another cracker at Fairyhouse, 12 months after finishing runner-up to Intense Raffles, as he chased home Haiti Couleurs in the 3m5f contest under Mark Walsh. The trainer confirmed after the race that it was the last run of the 13-year-old's incredible career. He told ITV: "Great horse. He's nine seasons there with us and since he won his first race at Navan, won a Moscow Flyer over two miles, won several races over two, won a Bobbyjo over three, won a Webster Cup over two and a half, second and third in two English Nationals, second in two Irish Nationals so what more could you get? "Other than winning, you couldn't get a better result. A better horse beat him on the day and a better horse beat him last year and that's all you can do! Click on this link or scan the QR code to receive the latest Cheltenham Festival news and top stories from the Irish Mirror direct to your phone on WhatsApp. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. "That's definitely the last time (he runs). I'm delighted he's going out sound. I'd have been happy today once he pulled up and ran a good race. "A win would have been real fairytale stuff, but he definitely won't run again and he'll enjoy himself."
The Guardian
05-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Nick Rockett's National success brings tears and smiles for father-son duo
Willie Mullins has long been a walking embodiment of Rudyard Kipling's If: someone with the preternatural ability to treat whatever the twin impostors of triumph and disaster lob at him with a shrug, a smile and an impeccably judged word. But everyone has a breaking point. For the legendary Irish trainer it came when little Nick Rockett, an unfancied 33-1 shot, emerged from the pack to take a 177th Grand National here that fizzed with drama and extraordinary storylines. Nick Rockett? More like Pocket Rocket. And the jockey guiding him home in the black and tangerine silks? None other than Mullins's 35-year-old son, Patrick. As Mullins Jr crossed the line, the cameras zoomed in on Willie in the stands. There was an almighty puff of the cheeks. Then a second. And a third. For a brief moment you feared he was hyperventilating. He wasn't, but the tear ducts were already opening. By the time Willie had got down to the finish to give his son a well‑deserved thump on the back his hanky was already soaked. Then the television cameras arrived and the dam burst. 'You have done most things in sport,' ITV's Matt Chapman said. 'But even you appeared to need to pinch yourself about this …' 'Ah well,' came the reply. 'To be able to let your son …' Mullins's stoicism has long been worthy of Seneca. But by now every word was a struggle. 'Willie, take a moment,' said Chapman. 'Why does that mean so much to you?' Finally, through rivers of tears, came more words. 'It's lovely to be able to give your son a ride in the National. But to be able to win it was just unbelievable.' As Mullins was speaking, his son was getting a piggyback from Stewart Andrew, the owner of Nick Rockett. He, it turned out, had a hell of a story, too. The horse had been originally owned by his wife, Sadie, who had wanted him to be trained by Willie Mullins. She got her wish. But she died of cancer in December 2022, a few days after the National winner's first race over jumps. 'My wife wanted a horse in training with Willie,' he said. 'She had her holy communion with him. We bumped into him by chance at Cheltenham sales, and she said: 'Why don't we get him to buy one for us?'' When Sadie found out she had terminal cancer, Willie ran the horse to let her see him, even though he was not really ready. Later, in Australia, Mullins laid out a plan for the horse over a cheap bottle of wine: win the Thyestes chase, win the Bobbyjo and to shoot for the National. On the brightest of April days the master trainer also proved to be a masterful prophet. Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion When the adrenaline and joy had stopped coursing through his body, Mullins admitted he had never been so emotional. 'It doesn't get any better than this,' he said. 'To sire the winning rider, to train the winner and have my wife, Jackie, here. I went to school with Sadie years ago and I met her years later and we went for a cup of tea in Cheltenham and we said we must buy a horse. And here we are.' It is a very different National these days. In 2013, the wooden core of each fence was replaced with plastic, which made them less rigid and with more give. The top of each fence also has loose spruce, which horses can fly through. That certainly helped Nick Rockett. But it also took an exceptional ride from Patrick Mullins, who is technically an amateur, but rode like anything but, to steer him home. 'He was just perfect,' he said. 'I actually had too good a start and I was trying to take him back all the way. He just jumped fantastic. 'When I was five or six years old I was reading books about the Grand National so to put my name there is incredibly special. 'He's just a brilliant horse. He's not very big, one of the smallest in the field, but he's brave as a lion.' There was also a word or two for his father. 'It was lovely to see my dad, because he's not very emotional,' Patrick said. Then came a smile that could have lit up the whole of Liverpool.
The Independent
05-04-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
The special meaning behind Willie Mullins dominance at the Grand National
Look up 'Dominance' in the English Dictionary these days and the name W P Mullins could well be found. The phenomenon of modern day National Hunt racing continues to rewrite the record books courtesy of an emotional victory for Nick Rockett, with son Partick aboard, in the 2025 Grand National, sending a meteoric training career stratospheric. Not content with simply training the winner of the National, Mullins despatched the 1-2-3 with last year's hero I Am Maximus carried out on his shield in second under Paul Townend two-and-a-half lengths behind, while another Closutton inmate Grangeclare West was third for rider Bryan Hayes a further half-length adrift. To reinforce the Closutton dominance Meetingofthewaters claimed fifth, while Minella Cocooner was seventh, meaning that only Appreciate It, who was unfortunate to be brought down by Kandoo Kid on the second circuit, finished out of the first seven from the six runners saddled by Mullins. In a 34-runner race with 30 fences over four-and-a-quarter miles, it represented an incredible achievement, even for a man that sent out the 1-2-3-4-5 in a Grade 1 event at Cheltenham last year. It also took the week's tally at Aintree to eight winners. The feat wasn't lost on an ecstatic winning rider. 'Willie getting me to win a National is his greatest achievement,' cackled Patrick Mullins as realisation of his triumph began to sink in. Mullins senior is used to winning, a lot. But this victory carried a special resonance. He said: 'I don't think it gets any better than this. To sire the winning rider, train the winner and have Jackie and everyone here . . . the way we planned this with Stewart (owner Stewart Andrew), over $10 bottles of wine down in Australia.' Nick Rockett was Andrew's late wife Sadie's pride and joy. She passed away from cancer in December 2022, just days after witnessing her purchase make his debut in a Fairyhouse bumper. Andrew said: 'Sometimes life takes us down roads that none of want to go down, and when we're there, we can end up in not the best places. Nick was Sadie's horse. She'd asked Willie to find her a horse. 'Sadly just before he was ready to run, we found out she had terminal cancer on 17 November, sadly she passed away on 8 [December 2022]. Willie ran him just to let Sadie see him. He finished fourth and Sadie said, 'He's run a massive race, he's not fit, but when we get him fit, he will win'. 'We had a session in Melbourne going down to see Absurde and Vauban, and because of said trainer, we were late for the restaurant so we ended up slumming it at two o'clock in the morning somewhere – I can tell you how classy it was, the wine list was 'red or white'! 'Wille said then, 'This is the plan: we're going to win the Thyestes, we're going to win the Bobbyjo, and then have a crack at Aintree'. What can you say? The man is a gentleman.' Mullins picked up the story: 'All great plans come together. I went to school with Sadie years ago and met her years later at a sale. We went for a cup of tea at Cheltenham one day and she said, 'We must buy a horse', and here we are 'My mother's not here, father's not here, I'd love to have my parents here. To give your son a leg up in the National is one thing, for him to win it, is off the charts in my book. This is the summit for me, I don't think it can get any better than this. It's just huge. Now I know how Ted Walsh felt when Ruby won it for him. I never thought I'd have that feeling.' Just for good measure, the duo combined to win the final event of a pulsating week on Merseyside when Green Splendour landed the bumper for, you've guessed it, his father. Liverpool hasn't seen dominance like it since Shankly and Paisley.
