Patrick Mullins on Festival Roll of Honour

The Mullins family has long been synonymous with success at Cheltenham and there was a new name on the roll of honour after today’s concluding Weatherbys Champion Bumper.

The 18-year-old Patrick Mullins partnered Cousin Vinny, trained by his father Willie, to an emphatic success and returned to a huge cheer in the winner’s enclosure. "I think I’ve ridden 39 winners but I’d swap them all for this one," said the successful rider, who is still at school and will take his leaving certificate in June. "I didn’t have a choice about which of Dad’s I would ride, he picked which ones we would all be on but I was happy to be aboard Cousin Vinny.

"He travelled so well that I was concerned he might be going too easily and not keep going but in the end it was a matter of how far he was going to win by. This was my only ride and I’ll be celebrating tomorrow."

Willie Mullins, who was saddling his sixth winner of the race, also rode one of those
horses to victory - Wither Or Which in 1996. "Patrick is not going to ride for too long because he’s tall and will probably get too heavy," said the winning trainer. "I thought this might be his only chance ever of getting a win here and I was just hoping that I’d got him on the right one, but we managed it.

"I just thought this horse’s finishing speed would come into play but I was worried it might be getting too soft because the horse is by Bob Back, you worry about everything at Cheltenham."
"It’s been a hell of a long day and it seems a long time since we were walking the course this morning but this will give us all a bit of a lift."

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