ENGLISH TEXTS quality filly. Ridari also won nicely on his comeback. That bodes well for the future.” Hard to disagree. In 2025, the Barzalona – Aga Khan partnership boasts a 41 % win rate( 14 wins in 34 races) and an impressive 94 % top-five finish rate( as of April 23). Before thinking about a second Cravache d’ Or—“ it’ s not my priority at the moment”— or a first Prix de l’ Arc de Triomphe win, 33-year-old Mickaël Barzalona remains true to his principles.“ I just hope to have a good year, stay healthy, and get the ride on a truly great horse.” He can rest assured— with the royal Aga Khan stable, that kind of horse is never far away.
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Par Jacob Pritchard-Webb
JUMP JOCKEY
PATRICK MULLINS THE GENTLEMAN OF AINTREE
In the Mullins family, let’ s ask for the son …“ My mum calls me Paddy, my dad calls me Patrick. I answer to both, but never call me Pat!”
Patrick Mullins is the son and assistant to Willie Mullins, 16-time amateur champion jockey in Ireland and now a
Grand National-winning rider after his triumph aboard Nick Rockett for his father Willie at Aintree on April 5 th.“ I still haven’ t come back down to earth. I crossed the finish line and didn’ t really celebrate the win, it all felt so surreal. In the winner’ s enclosure, I saw my mum and my partner— but Willie wasn’ t there.” In fact, the legendary Irish trainer, a record-breaker and no stranger to success in the world’ s top races, was in tears live on national television.“ To make my dad that proud adds something extra to the win— it’ s very special. Since I was a kid, the Grand National has been the pinnacle, because of its history, its legends, and its uniqueness. The Gold Cup rewards the best horse, but the Grand National is THE race that makes people dream.” It’ s a race that reaches far beyond the racing world and into the hearts of the British public, especially those in Liverpool. Patrick grins:“ The first noticeable perk of winning was that we skipped the queue at the nightclub! But more seriously, the moment that struck me most was the parade in our village a few days after the race. The crowd was incredible— from babies to grandparents. It’ s the village where I grew up and still live today. My daughter Wynter, who was born in December, was there, along with several of my mates who took a day off work to come. It was really emotional, and now we’ ve got some great photos for the mantelpiece.”
A Family Affair Those photos will join the family album, which already featured two Grand National wins for Willie Mullins and successes by Patrick’ s cousins.“ It was important to me to do as well as David, who won the Grand National as a jockey( Rule The World), and Emmet, who’ s already trained a winner( Noble Yeats). Now I’ d love to see my other cousin Danny get his name on the trophy. You should really watch his ride on Meetingofthewaters— it was fantastic, but sadly his horse didn’ t stay the trip. He definitely deserves to join us on the winners’ list.” At 35, Patrick Mullins is a fulfilled man. A young father, he’ s an integral part of his father’ s operation, which runs like a well-oiled machine.“ There are two assistants— David Casey and me. David handles the entries and I’ m out on the gallops every day with Willie.” For now, this gentleman-rider is in no rush to change anything, though he does have future plans to train on his own.“ I’ d say Willie is speeding up rather than slowing down! As we say in Ireland, trainers don’ t retire— they die on the job! As for my amateur career, I’ d like to keep riding for as long as possible. My dad rode until he was 40 …” Like his father, Patrick is drawn to big international challenges— especially the legendary course at Auteu-
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