A PLAN DEVISED OVER $10 BOTTLES OF WINE IN MELBOURNE LEADS TO GRAND NATIONAL GLORY

By Darren Winningham | Saturday, April 5, 2025

It was a Grand National for the ages … a Willie Mullins Grand National to be more precise with the champion trainer saddling the first three runners past the post, led by Nick Rockett, and five of the first seven runners to complete the thirty-jump course.

Apart from Mullins dominance on the training front, there were also sub-plots and emotions aplenty and a back-story of a plan hatched in far-off Australia that set out the stepping stones to Grand National glory.

It was a back-story related with some amusement by Nick Rockett’s owner Stewart Andrew, talking to ITV.

“We had a session in Melbourne,” explained Andrew. “We’d gone down to see Absurde and Vauban. We were late for a restaurant, so we ending up at something like two-o-clock in the morning in a classic joint.

“I’ll tell you how classic it was. The wine list was red or white … that was it!

“We ended up there and Willie said, this is the plan. We are going to win the Thyestes (at Gowran). We are going to win the BobbyJo (at Fairyhouse) and then we’ll give it a crack at Aintree.

“What can I say!”

Nick Rockett won all three of those races targeted on that late night session in Melbourne. The Thyestes and the Bobbyjo were both Grade 3 events and, as planned, they served to set up a magnificent Grand Finale for Nick Rockett with a Grand National win which opened the floodgates of emotion for the connections of the Grand National winner.

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