Patrick Mullins rode Nick Rockett to victory in the Grand National
Patrick Mullins enjoyed his finest hour as a jockey as he guided Nick Rockett to victory in the 2025 Grand National. Fans at Aintree were treated to a classic as two of Willie Mullins’ horses went toe-to-toe in the final stages.
But in the end, it was Nick Rockett who wrote his name into the Aintree history books, with Mullins managing to fend off competition from last year’s winner, I Am Maximus, to secure glory.
The victory was made even more special for Mullins as Nick Rockett is trained by his dad, Willie. He also becomes the latest in his family to have won the race, with his cousins David and Emmet having won the race, the first-named as a jockey with Rule The World and the second as a trainer with Noble Yeats.
Winning jockeys in the Grand National, on average, will take home about 8% of the winning pot, while placed riders will take home around 4%. This means the winning rider can nomrally expect to leave the event with a paycheck of around £40,000.
However, Mullins won’t receive a single penny for being this year’s winning jockey. That is because the Irishman is registered as an amateur jockey, and, as a result, does not get paid for riding.
Amateur jockeys can ride over both flat and jumps, but do it for the fun rather than as a profession. It is also not unusual for an amateur to ride regularly against professionals.
Speaking after his win at Aintree, Mullins said: “I had too good a start and was having to take him back all the way. I was wondering at the Canal Turn had I lost too much ground, but he just jumped fantastic.
“Then I was there too soon and it is a long way from the back of the last with Paul on my outside.
“It’s everything I’ve dreamed of since I was a kid. I know it’s a cliche, but when I was five or six years old, I was reading books about the National and watching black and white videos of Red Rum. To put my name there is very special.”
Willie Mullins also achieved an incredible 1-2-3 in the final standings, but he admitted his focus was solely on his son finishing first. He said: “I actually wasn’t thinking about the 1-2-3 – I was single-mindedly thinking about Patrick riding the winner and about Stewart and Sadie.
“I didn’t realise that we’d finished third or fifth – I didn’t look any further. Once we passed the winning post in front the rest didn’t matter.”
Asked about his son, Mullins Snr replied: “Patrick comes in every morning and runs the whole show. He matches all the horses and the riders every morning and I might come up and change one or two things but Patrick could take over.
“It just comes natural to him. He’s very precise and concise about things. He knows what to do and when to do it. I am absolutely delighted for him.
“You dream about winning big races here and there but the first race we saw growing up was the Grand National in black and white. We all lived every year for the horse you were going to back in the National – and the owners and trainers of the National runners were heroes in our game.”