NICK ROCKETT sealed a fairytale Grand National win for Bradford-born Stewart Andrew – with his beloved late wife’s favourite horse.
The Willie Mullins-trained monster ridden by amateur jockey and son Patrick saw off last year’s winner I Am Maximus at huge odds of 33-1.
"Out of such sadness, joy has been born. Nick Rockett has done it all for me." ❤️
— ITV Racing (@itvracing) April 5, 2025
Stewart Andrew on the loss of his wife, Sadie #ITVRacing | #GrandNational pic.twitter.com/K6UOgWDyYe
Andrew’s wife Sadie died from cancer in December 2022 just days after seeing Nick Rockett’s debut run – and mere weeks after being diagnosed.
He said after his horse’s win: “Sadie would have loved this.
“She’s up there and she’ll have had a tenner each-way I can guarantee.”
Nick Rockett is still officially owned by Stewart and Sadie – but it is just Stewart who travels between Britain and Ireland watching his superstar horse.
And he will have looked to the skies toasting his late wife after the win of a lifetime, which sealed him a cheque for £500,000.
The astonishing scenes came on a day of high drama at Aintree that saw…
- The day got off to a disastrous start for punters with a load of runners withdrawn
- Glam revellers packed the racecourse on one of the warmest days of the year
- A legendary jockey announced her retirement aged 42 as she revealed she’s pregnant
Unflappable Mullins, the top trainer over jumps who’s won everything there is to win multiple times, broke down in tears on live TV after – the emotion of the incredible win far too much even for him.
He threatened to bawl his eyes out earlier this year when Nick Rockett won a big race in Ireland – but just about managed to keep his emotions in check.
But the enormity of the Grand National – the world’s most famous race – and winning it for a true pal saw him totally overcome.
Stewart hoisted Patrick – who recently became a father and had another big win earlier in the week on Gaelic Warrior – on his shoulders as they marched back into the winner’s enclosure under the blazing spring sunshine.
Maybe it was fate because in the days before this win Patrick went on TV saying he was angling for the ride on Nick Rockett – even though he often has to play second fiddle to the pro jockeys riding for his dad.
The emotional owner said after the win: “Out of such sadness, joy has been born.
“Nick Rockett has done it all for me.”
[boxout headline=”Mullins’ emotional quotes in full”]“This is the summit for me – I don’t think anything can be better than this.
“I never thought it would happen, and here we are.
“It looks like the British Championship might be on again. I think we’ll have to have a real go now.
“To put your son up on a Grand National winner… What a special day for him, as a jockey and as a person.
“To win a Grand National as a trainer – wow, how wonderful. To have the two combined – I can’t explain it.
“I can’t comprehend it and I find it hard to take.”
Stewart said he struggled in the years following his wife’s death, which came just three weeks after she was diagnosed.
But he counts Mullins as a friend – especially after he helped get him out of the ‘shell’ he had got into mourning his wife.
Stewart told the Racing Post: “After Sadie died, I went over to Willie to watch Nick Rockett work with Fergal O’Brien as he had a horse running in the Kerry National and Fergal’s daughter was working for Willie.
“I was in a tough place, missing Sadie, and Willie said he had two horses, Vauban and Absurde, running in the Melbourne Cup and asked if I wanted to come out.
“I went out and had the time of my life with the guys.
“It took me out of a cycle of not socialising as I had gone into a bit of a shell.
“We had a fantastic time and I got asked again last year and there was no way I was going to miss it.”
Now there will be a massive party of a different kind celebrating this heartwarming win.
[boxout headline=”Top 10 Grand National”]Here’s where they finished and how much money they won…
1st Nick Rockett 33-1 (£500,000)
2nd I Am Maximus 7-1 (£200,000)
3rd Grangeclare West 33-1 (£100,000)
4th Iroko 13-2F (£65,000)
5th Meetingofthewaters 20-1 (£40,000)
6th Senior Chief 40-1 (£30,000)
7th Minella Cocooner 18-1 (£20,000)
8th Hewick 14-1 (£15,000)
9th Minella indo 20-1 (£10,000)
10th Twig 50-1 (£5,000)
The top three was rounded out by Grangeclare West at 33-1 – completing an amazing 1-2-3 for Mullins.
In fourth was British-trained Iroko, who fared the best of the home hope after being backed into 13-2 before the off.
While billionaire owner JP McManus had his third runner in the top five courtesy of 20-1 Meetingofthewaters.
Speaking on ITV, an amazingly composed Stewart said: “Sometimes life takes us down roads that none of us want to go down.
“When we’re there we can end up in not the best places – Nick was Sadie’s horse.
“She’d been badgering Willie to get him to run in a bumper (early on in his career) but before that we got a bad set of results we weren’t expecting.
“She passed on December 8, five days after his first run.
[bc_video account_id=”5067014667001″ application_id=”” aspect_ratio=”16:9″ autoplay=”” caption=”Willie Mullins emotional after owner is left close to tears when late wife’s horse wins £80,000 race ” embed=”in-page” experience_id=”” height=”100%” language_detection=”” max_height=”360px” max_width=”640px” min_width=”0px” mute=”” padding_top=”56%” picture_in_picture=”” player_id=”default” playlist_id=”” playsinline=”” sizing=”responsive” video_id=”6367618632112″ video_ids=”” width=”640px”]“Willie told me, ‘Don’t worry, he’s a great horse’.
“He later told he ‘he’s not very good!’ but he kept winning then he won a Grade 2 by 15 lengths… here we are now winning a Grand National.
“Sadie would have loved it.”
Patrick said: “I didn’t even know how to celebrate! This is very, very special.
“My husband Willie had three of the horses in with a chance coming to the line but it’s Patrick I wanted to win!”
While Willie – who as the centre of a ‘jocking off’ storm earlier in the week – added: “To sire the winning rider, train the winner, and have my wife Jackie here… the way we planned this with Stewart over $10 bottles of wine in Australia!
“But all great plans come together. I went to school with Sadie and we went to Holy Communion together.
“We were at the sales at Cheltenham and she told me we should buy a horse together – and here we are.”