1 week Ago By [email protected] (Robert Hynes)
Harry and Dan Skelton have paid tribute to Willie Mullins following his Grand National domination at Aintree. The first three horses home in the Aintree showpiece were all trained by the Closutton maestro , as were the fifth and seventh, with Mullins' son Patrick partnering Nick Rockett to victory to spark emotional scenes at the Merseyside venue. The result also moved Mullins to just over £122,000 behind Harry's brother Dan in the UK Trainers' Championship.
Before Aintree, Dan was more than £1.3million ahead. Both Skelton brothers have congratulated Mullins on his 'incredible' achievement.
Star Sports ambassador Harry said: "It’s just incredible what Willie did really. He has such strength in depth and his firepower is quite remarkable. Well done to them.
As Willie said, I’m sure this is the greatest moment of his career, with Patrick [Mullins] riding the winner. It must have been a very special day." On the battle to be crowned champion trainer, the jockey added: "Willie Mullins saddling four of the first five in the Grand National certainly makes the trainers’ title a bit closer than we would have liked.
It’s going to be a busy three weeks for everyone. We’ll run the horses that are due to run but only where it’s sensible to do so, as obviously the ground is drying out. "We’ve got entries in the Scottish Champion Hurdle, the Scottish National, the bet365 Gold Cup and plenty of other valuable races, so there’s still plenty of prize money on offer.
I think we came out of Aintree last year £50,000 behind so although it’s a different scenario this time, it’s still definitely too close for comfort. "We’re proud of our team, we’ve broken £3 million in prize money this season and had Festival winners at both Cheltenham and Aintree, so that’s an unbelievable achievement. We want our hands on that trophy, though, and we’re going to fight for it, but it’s not going to be easy.
" Harry's comments come after Dan said "there's not a lot you can do apart from take your hat off to him and just say 'wow'." He told the Racing Post : "We were in a great position going into the Grand National and thought even if Willie won it we were still in a pretty good spot. But he sent out the first, second and third, so there's not a lot you can do apart from take your hat off to him and just say 'wow.
' "We'll give it our best until the end of the season but I'm not going to run horses who shouldn't be running – we'll be sensible. Willie makes us all work harder, aim higher and that's what we'll continue to do. Hopefully our efforts are good enough this year but if they're not we'll try to increase them again next time, as the bar keeps getting higher.
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