Warm welcome home for Grand National winner Nick Rockett
By PA Reporter
There was a warm welcome in the evening sun as Grand National winning horse Nick Rockett received a rapturous reception during a homecoming parade in Leighlinbridge.
Just days after the Aintree heroics, hundreds lined the streets of the tiny Co Carlow village for the victory ceremony.
As well as Nick Rockett, second-placed I Am Maximus and third-placed Grangeclare West were also paraded to cheers and applause.
People gathered in the car park of the Lord Bagenal Inn to take photographs of the Grand National trophies on their phones.
All three horses are trained by Willie Mullins and the victory was made all the more special because Nick Rockett was ridden by his amateur son Patrick in the famous race.
Leighlinbridge is close to Mullins’ world-famous Closutton training yard.
Mullins briefly addressed the crowd after the three horses were displayed through the village.
He told the PA news agency that he was still in dreamland over that emotional day when the “stars aligned”.
He said: “It was a very emotional and special day for us all.
“It was sinking in from the Canal Turn that it might be on.”
He said: “I would have loved to have had ma (Maureen Mullins) there and both my parents and when I knew Patrick was going to win, you just think about all the people who would have really enjoyed seeing it.
“In this game, so many things can go wrong, yet here it was unfolding in front of my eyes.
“When you add it all together it was like throwing double sixes, six times in a row, or a manager sticking his son on the pitch and scoring a goal in a World Cup final or an All-Ireland final.
“It was a day of just pure emotion.”
He added: “For me, it was all about Patrick. I didn’t even realise until 20 minutes after the race we were third, fifth and seventh. That’s where my headspace was at that time.
“I’d been watching Patrick all the way through the race, number one because he’s my son, and two, well you can’t watch them all.
“The only worry I had was when I Am Maximus came up beside him at the elbow, but when he started to extend I was thinking, bar him doing a Devon Loch, he was home and hosed.
“In Patrick’s lifetime, with his weight, he could have only had two or three goes at the National yet to get a horse of that ability and then give it such an exquisite ride, I was so proud.
“When you are a father who puts up their son, if he does anything wrong, everyone will jump on it and say you should have put up a professional, but he did everything right.”
ing the trainer for the parade were the winning jockey and Bradford-born owner Stewart Andrew, whose late wife Sadie went to school with Mullins before their paths crossed many years later, leading to the purchase of Nick Rockett.
Mr Andrew said: “It is like having a ride on a magic carpet and I don’t actually want to get off yet.
“I want the ride to carry on. It has taken a long time to sink in but it is fantastic.”
