Willie Mullins lands big final day double at Sandown to secure famous British trainers’ title triumph
WORLD-BEATER Willie Mullins has won it all – and now he wants to do it all over again.
Just moments after Minella Cocooner secured him an historic British trainers’ title at Sandown, his thoughts turned to the defence of his crown.
What a terrifying prospect for Paul Nicholls, Nicky Henderson and Dan Skelton.
Because Willie the Great wants to at least match the legendary Irish trainer Vincent O’Brien’s feat of back-to-back British championships, achieved back in the black and white days of the 1950’s
And what is striking is just how popular this historic title win has been among British punters.
They’ve welcomed Willie with open arms wherever he has gone and they cheered him to the rafters at Sandown as he collected his trophy.
He shook hands with well-wishers, posed for selfies and was beside himself with glee when six blokes in the crowd whipped out their Willie masks to greet him after winning the bet365 Gold Cup.
He has conquered everything there is to conquer in this sport but he is still a man of the people.
And his people have cashed in on three big-priced winners in three of our biggest handicaps in three straight weeks.
We are so used to him mopping up at Cheltenham with odds-on shots, but Aintree hero I Am Maximus (7-1), Scottish National winner Macdermott (18-1) and Minella Cocooner (17-2) were all working man’s prices.
It just shows how good he is. If, somehow, his A-team don’t get you, his B-team and C-team probably will.
But he gave a special tip of the trilby to his nephew Danny Mullins, who managed to get Macdermott to scrape home at Ayr before another all-action winning ride at Sandown.
A nose and a neck were the difference in both races, with a valuable £210,000 banked in the process.
Mind you, he still would have won the title anyway, finishing with a whopping £3,325,614 from just 26 winners, almost £350,000 clear of Skelton who held off his old gaffer Nicholls for second.
And as the field turned for home in the bet365 Gold Cup, there was an air of inevitability about Minella Cocooner’s thrilling success.
Danny timed his run to absolute perfection, creeping into contention on the final circuit before wearing down the brave runner-up Annual Invictus after a ding-dong battle up the hill.
Given his dominance all season, it wouldn’t have been right had Willie headed home with the trainer’s trophy but no winners on the day.
In no time at all, one became two, as Impaire Et Passe cruised to victory in the Select Hurdle.
Mullins said: “Vincent O’Brien is the legend of the game and just to emulate something he did is extraordinary.
“It’s something we couldn’t comprehend doing and I didn’t think was possible, but we’ve managed to pull it off.
“I’ve been bowled over by the racing public over here, they’ve been very supportive and the warm welcome we’ve received has really amazed me.
“It was special for my nephew Danny to have the big winner today, especially after what he did at Ayr last week, which was a result which put us in pole position.
“He gave Minella Cocooner a tremendous ride today and got him really balanced and travelling, with tremendous jumps over the last two.
“I am sure we are going to celebrate long and hard! We will start off this evening, go on through the whole of Punchestown next week and maybe a few days after that!”
Such was Willie-mania, you could almost be forgiven for forgetting about Jonbon’s epic victory in the Celebration Chase.
Nicky Henderson’s eight-year-old made every post a winning one, and the relentless gallop set by jockey Nico de Boinville meant El Fabiolo’s jumping frailties came back to haunt him.
Hendo smiled: “It’s great to see him come back and put on a display like that. He’s a brave horse as he had a hard race at Aintree and I’m proud of him.”We had a three-week blip around Cheltenham but the horses are finishing on a good note, thank goodness!”
But he saved the last word for his old pal Willie, saying: “We’ve seen far too much of him for my liking this year! But honestly, he is just a wonderful trainer and a wonderful man.”
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