Nick Rockett, a 33-1 shot ridden by Patrick Mullins, on Saturday won the Grand National steeplechase at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England, in a top three sweep for horses trained by the Irish amateur jockey’s father, Willie.
Last year’s winner, I Am Maximus (7/1), finished second, two and a half lengths behind, and Grangeclare West (33/1) was third a further half-length back with another Mullins horse, Meetingofthewaters, in fifth.
Iroko, the 13-2 favorite, was fourth in a race with a total prize fund of ￡1 million (US$1.29 million), with ￡500,000 to the winner.
Photo: AFP
Five of the top seven horses were trained by Mullins, but Nick Rockett was the emotional winner in the colors of Stewart Andrew and co-owner wife Sadie, who died of cancer in December 2022 after entrusting the horse to Mullins.
“It was some result. It is lovely to be able to give your son a ride in the National, but to be able to win it is just unbelievable,” Willie Mullins told ITV Racing as he fought back the tears.
Patrick Mullins, whose father has back-to-back National wins and career third after Hedgehunter in 2005, said it was a childhood dream come true.
“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,” the jockey said.
Owner Andrew said Nick Rockett had been “different class.”
“Everybody had written the horse off, he’d drifted into the betting. He won the best two trials in Ireland easily. He’s a class horse and has the heart of a lion,” he said.
Arminia Bielefeld on Tuesday pulled off a major upset in the DFB-Pokal by defeating defending champions Bayer 04 Leverkusen 2-1 in their semi-final. The third-division team came from behind after Jonathan Tah gave the visitors a 17th-minute lead. Marius Worl replied three minutes later and Maximilian Groser scored Bielefeld’s second goal just before the break. The home team looked more likely to add to that tally as the Leverkusen players looked jaded. “I’m just proud of this team,” Bielefeld coach Mitch Kniat said as most of the fans the small stadium sang around him. “No one will sleep in the city tonight.” Patrik Schick went
THREES KINGS: The Celtics claimed a piece of league history by setting a new record for the number of threes in a season, ending their game with 1,370 Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun on Friday combined for 65 points as the Houston Rockets halted Oklahoma City’s 11-game winning streak with a statement 125-111 victory. In a potential Western Conference finals preview, the Rockets produced a dominant all-round performance to jolt the top-seeded Thunder’s all-conquering preparations for the post-season. Green finished with 34 points from 11-of-24 shooting, while Turkish big man Sengun made 31 points as second-placed Houston improved to 51-27. Oklahoma City grabbed the lead in the opening minutes of the first quarter, but Houston soon knocked the Thunder out of their stride with a physical approach to move into the
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) have shown the team do not need star power to win trophies and with the French Ligue 1 title won with six games to spare, the French champions would look to finish the season without losing, manager Luis Enrique said on Saturday. A 1-0 victory over Angers SCO at the Parc des Princes helped PSG win their fourth straight Ligue 1 title and a record-extending 13th overall. PSG can still break Nantes’ 30-year-old record of 32 games unbeaten. Although Nantes lost one game en route to the title, no French club has ever gone an entire league
RECORD WINNERS: The Catalan club, who are still in contention for a historic quadruple this season, are to face rivals Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey final Barcelona are to face rivals Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey final after Ferran Torres secured them a 1-0 win at Atletico Madrid on Wednesday, progressing 5-4 on aggregate from the semi-final tie. Record 31-time winners Barca had the better of the clash at the Metropolitano after the wild 4-4 first-leg draw. The defeat leaves Diego Simeone’s Atletico with little to play for in the rest of the season. By contrast, the Catalans are on the hunt for a potential quadruple and are unbeaten this year, stretching their run to 21 games without defeat. Atletico were the last team to triumph
RSS