Patrick Mullins

The 2025 Grand National winner Nick Rockett has been withdrawn from the 2026 edition due to coughing. Pied Piper (New Approach), the first reserve, has been added to the lineup for Saturday's contest at Aintree. The son of Walk In The Park is trained by Willie Mullins for Stewart and Sadie Andrew. Willie's son Patrick, who also partnered the gelding to success 12 months ago, said, "It is 72-hour declarations for the Grand National, and we wanted to give him every chance, but he gave a few coughs this morning...

Connor King, who was twice crowned champion apprentice jockey on the Flat in Ireland, will bid to become the youngest ever trainer to win the Grand National when sending Oscars Brother (Malinas) to Aintree later this spring.  The 27-year-old handler - who only has two horses at his County Tipperary stable - has admitted he is "trying not to think too much" about the prospect of Oscars Brother being a serious Grand National contender. The handicapper has given Oscars Brother a 155 rating - a weight of 10st 13lb -...

Willie Mullins, Gavin Cromwell, Henry de Bromhead, Gordon Elliott and Ger Lyons' Glenburnie Racing are among the team captains confirmed for the Treo Eile Christmas Show on Thursday, December 11 at Emerald Equestrian Centre near Enfield. Also stepping up to the plate for the HRI Treo Eile Thoroughbred Classic team event are a number of past or present jockeys, including Paul Townend, Jack Kennedy, Patrick Mullins, Jody Townend, Mark Walsh, Colin Keane, Nicola Burns, Robbie Power and Kevin Manning. The HRI Treo Eile Thoroughbred Classic, the feature class on the...

Emma Berry, European editor at Thoroughbred Daily News, is among the writers shortlisted for the 2025 HWPA Derby Awards, which take place at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London on Monday, December 1. Berry is nominated in the Specialist Writer of the Year category, along with Bill Barber and Alan Sweetman from the Racing Post and Laura Joy from European Bloodstock News. The shortlist for the Racing Writer of the Year features three previous winners in Lee Mottershead, bidding for a fourth victory, Peter Thomas, who lifted the trophy in...

The six 2024/25 Irish National Hunt season champions were confirmed at Punchestown on Saturday afternoon. JP McManus was named the champion owner for the 22nd time, and he said, "To be crowned champion owner is a huge honour for my family and me. Huge thanks to all the trainers, jockeys and stable staff and all who play a huge part in our success." Other season-end leaders were: Willie Mullins, who was winning the champion trainer title for the 19th time; Mullins's son Patrick, who earned his 17th champion amateur title;...

According to the Encyclopedia Britanica, a self-fulfilling prophecy is the "process through which an originally false expectation leads to its own confirmation." Horse racing's self-fulfilling prophesy appears to be the belief that only a select few trainers are capable of eliciting from the sport's finest Thoroughbred athletes their optimum talent. This notion reached an absurd low last month when a commentator for the UK's Racing Post argued that owners in possession of the best steeplechasers in England and Ireland should essentially have their heads examined for sending their horses to...

The 2023/2024 Irish National Hunt champions were crowned at Punchestown on Saturday, Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) announced. After a close tussle, Jack Kennedy earned his first Irish Champion Jockey title, just edging out Paul Townend, who was aiming for his seventh year-end award. The full list of champions for the 2023/2024 National Hunt season are as follows: Champion Owner: JP McManus Champion Trainer: Willie Mullins Champion Jockey: Jack Kennedy Champion Conditional: Danny Gilligan Champion Amateur: Patrick Mullins Champion Lady Amateur: Jody Townend HRI chief executive, Suzanne Eade, said, "It has...

Six Irish National Hunt champions, including Willie Mullins, will be presented with their end-of-season awards at Punchestown on Saturday. Charlie McConalogue, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, will be on hand at the course to distribute the honours. Trainer Willie Mullins was named the Irish NH Champion Trainer for the 17th time. He saddled his 4,000th career winner in January and sets a new record for the number of winners in a NH season having surpassed his previous best of 212, set in the 2017/2018 season. The trainer of...

The 2021/2022 Irish National Hunt Champions were announced at Punchestown on Saturday. Of the six, five were repeat winners, with Jack Foley named the Champion Conditional Jockey for the first time. Ireland's NH champions are as follows: Champion Owner: JP McManus (19th win) Champion Trainer: Willie Mullins (16th win) Champion Jockey: Paul Townend (fifth win) Champion Conditional: Jack Foley Champion Amateur: Patrick Mullins (14th win) Champion Lady Amateur Rider: Jody Townend (second win) Horse Racing Ireland Chief Executive, Suzanne Eade, said, "This is the first time since May 2019 that...