Rockett-powered Mullins never met his Nemesis at Aintree

Patrick Mullins was fearing “Nemesis appearing at his knee” as he hit the front in the Grand National. But history was not for repeating as the amateur jockey wrote himself into the Aintree record books with an emotional success aboard Nick Rockett.

It was the famous quote from Lord Oaksey after being pipped to the 1963 Grand National aboard Carrickbeg, as well as a piece of advice from Richard Pitman, that sprung into Mullins’ mind as the great student of racing began to contemplate big-race glory.

However, his moment of panic did not last, as he added his name to the greats he read about as a child.

Mullins explained: “When we jumped the last, I was thinking, I’ve just got to get to the elbow before I raise my stick, because I remember Richard Pitman telling me that he should have got to the elbow on Crisp before he raised his stick.

“We’ve gone clear, and then I remembered John Oaksey saying that he got ‘Nemesis at his knee’, and I’m waiting for Nemesis (which in Oaksey’s case was eventual winner Ayala, trained by Lester Piggott’s father, Keith, and for Mullins could have been I Am Maximus) to arrive and it doesn’t. Magic – it doesn’t get any better than this.

“I just remember, when I was five or six, reading a book on the Grand National history, and going back to The Lamb, Lottery, Abd-El-Kader, I know the history going back 200 years. I know these names because they won the Grand National, so to put my name on that is mind-blowing.”

Mullins famously described the moment his Grand National dream aboard Burrows Saint went up in smoke after the second-last of the 2021 edition won by his friend Rachael Blackmore on Minella Times.

But four years on, he finally got his own ultimate moment in the spotlight with a horse whose achievements this term allowed the 6ft 1in amateur the chance to hop aboard on the big occasion.

Mullins explained: “I ended up on Nick Rockett because he had enough weight for me, first. Obviously Paul (Townend) was going to ride I Am Maximus, and I ended up on Nick Rockett. He won the Thyestes and he had 11 stone 8lb, and I thought he had every chance.

“I’m 6ft 1in, I wake up at 11st 7lb stripped and 11st 2lb is the lightest weight I can do over jumps. What I do with my weight is no different to what a professional does, it’s just that they are a stone less. I get too grumpy at lighter weights.”

With the backing of his father, Mullins has become one of the most decorated amateurs to ever grace the sport, with Nick Rockett’s victory a crowning moment for a racing dynasty steeped in history and one the master of Closutton himself described as his “best day ever”.

Mullins added: “There was no sign of Willie for the first 20 minutes and I think he was off crying somewhere, but it was great to see my mother (Jackie), and my girlfriend Sarah. It was emotional to see my dad, because he’s not very emotional, so yeah, it was nice.”