Father-and-son combination wins the Grand National as Nick Rockett triumphs at odds of 33-1

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Jockey Patrick Mullins, riding Nick Rockett, crosses the line to win the Randox Grand National Handicap Steeple Chase race on the third day of the Grand National Horse Racing meeting at Aintree racecourse, near Liverpool, England, Saturday, April 5, 2025. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP)

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Jockey Patrick Mullins holds up the trophy after winning the Grand National Handicap Steeple Chase race aboard Nick Rockett, on the third day of the Grand National Horse Racing meeting at Aintree racecourse, near Liverpool, England, Saturday, April 5, 2025. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)

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Jockey Patrick Mullins, celebrates after winning the Grand National Handicap Steeple Chase race aboard Nick Rockett, on the third day of the Grand National Horse Racing meeting at Aintree racecourse, near Liverpool, England, Saturday, April 5, 2025. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)

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Jockey Patrick Mullins, ridding Nick Rockett, crosses the line to win the Randox Grand National Handicap Steeple Chase race on the third day of the Grand National Horse Racing meeting at Aintree racecourse, near Liverpool, England, Saturday, April 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ian Hodgson)

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Jockey Patrick Mullins, ridding Nick Rockett, clears a fence on their way to win the Randox Grand National Handicap Steeple Chase race on the third day of the Grand National Horse Racing meeting at Aintree racecourse, near Liverpool, England, Saturday, April 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ian Hodgson)

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Horses compete in the Randox Grand National Handicap Steeple Chase race on the third day of the Grand National Horse Racing meeting at Aintree racecourse, near Liverpool, England, Saturday, April 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ian Hodgson)

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Jockey Patrick Mullins, ridding Nick Rockett, center, clears a fence on their way to win the Randox Grand National Handicap Steeple Chase race on the third day of the Grand National Horse Racing meeting at Aintree racecourse, near Liverpool, England, Saturday, April 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ian Hodgson)

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Racegoers fill the stands on the third day of the Grand National Horse Racing meeting at Aintree racecourse, near Liverpool, England, Saturday, April 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ian Hodgson)

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Racegoers attend the third day of the Grand National Horse Racing meeting at Aintree racecourse, near Liverpool, England, Saturday, April 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ian Hodgson)

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By STEVE DOUGLAS

It was a great day for the Mullins family in the Grand National.

Ridden by amateur jockey Patrick Mullins and trained by his father Willie Mullins, Nick Rockett — a 33-1 shot — won the storied British horse race in front of about 70,000 racegoers at Aintree Racecourse on Saturday.

For Willie Mullins, it was a 1-2-3 in the grueling steeplechase. I Am Maximus (7-1), which was bidding to win in back-to-back years, finished 2 1/2 lengths back in second place and Grangeclare West (33-1) was third, with both horses also trained by Mullins.

He said being the trainer of a Grand National-winning horse ridden by his son was “like something out of a Disney film.”

“It is lovely to be able to give your son a ride in the National,” said Willie Mullins, who was so emotional immediately after the race he could barely talk. “But to be able to win it is just unbelievable.”

Patrick Mullins said his win was “everything I’ve dreamed about since I was a kid.”

“It’s a cliche,” he said, “but when I was five or six years old, I remember reading books about the National and watching black-and-white videos of (three-time winner) Red Rum. So to put my name there is incredibly special.”

Not PARSE.LY: Willie Mullins

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Inothewayurthinkin wins Cheltenham Gold Cup to deny Galopin Des Champs a third straight victory

The Mullins family has quite the history with the Grand National. One of Patrick’s cousins, David, rode Rule The World to victory as a 19-year-old in 2016, while another cousin — Emmet — was the trainer of 2022 winner Noble Yeats.

Willie Mullins even had the fifth-place finisher in Saturday’s race, Meetingofthewaters.

“I had multiple runners in the race and I said before the first (fence) I can’t follow them all so I decided to follow the most important one and my son,” Willie Mullins said.

“Patrick just kept the whole thing together and was as cool as ice.”

The owner of Nick Rockett is Stewart Andrew, whose wife, Sadie, originally owned the horse and died of cancer in December 2022 — soon after Nick Rockett ran his first jumps race.

“She’s here, she’s here,” said Andrew, who carried Patrick Mullins on his shoulders at one point after the race.

The Grand National — a race for 34 horses over 30 fences — has long been regarded as one of the most dangerous horse races in the world because of the size of the fences, though a number of new measures were introduced last year in an attempt to make it safer.

The 177th edition appeared to pass off without major incident, with 16 horses finishing the race.

Two of the horses who didn’t — Broadway Boy (fall) and Celebre D’Allen (pulled up) — were still being assessed hours after the finish.

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