April often sees a changing of the guard in horse racing, with jumps action gradually stepping to one side as the Flat stars emerge from their winter slumber to take centre stage.
That wasn’t quite the case this year, as Willie Mullins and his extraordinary ability to achieve the incredible lit up the sport, nowhere more so than at Aintree in the Grand National.
Willie’s world as Rockett launches at Aintree
Willie Mullins is the doyen of jumps racing in the modern era, the County Carlow-based trainer having completely re-aligned the boundaries of what was believed to be possible in his sport.
He had already achieved a century of Cheltenham Festival winners in 2024 and been crowned Britain’s champion trainer for the first time – the first Irish-based handler to achieve that feat in eight decades – but in April 2025, Mullins added perhaps his finest chapter in racing folklore so far.
His team enjoyed an unbelievable one-two-three finish in the Grand National at Aintree, as well as saddling the fifth and seventh-placed finishers.
The reigning champion I Am Maximus had to settle for second-best this time as Nick Rockett took the glory following on from his key trial-races wins in the Thyestes and Bobbyjo Chases on home soil.
What made this win stand out was that Mullins’ son Patrick was the man in the saddle.
Patrick Mullins has long been considered as one of the best amateur riders of his generation, a professional in all but name.
His father saddled six Aintree contenders for the Grand National this year and with stable jockey Paul Townend sticking with 2024 hero I Am Maximus, Patrick had quipped in the lead-up that he wanted his ‘name in the hat’ for the ride on Nick Rockett.
He got his wish but, despite those big-race successes in Ireland, they went off at odds of 33/1 before coming home in front in determined fashion.
Scenes of unbridled joy followed, with Willie Mullins’ emotions clear to be seen in a way that we simply don’t often witness as he contemplated the magnitude of his son riding a winner he trained in the world’s most famous contest.
It was, said Mullins Snr, the peak of his achievements in racing and that surely speaks volumes for man who is continuously rewriting the history books.
Trainers’ title goes to the wire
That Aintree win in the Grand National was followed seven days later by Captain Cody leading home a Mullins-trained one-two in the Scottish National at Ayr.
Captain Cody won with an ice-cool ride from outgoing British champion jockey Harry Cobden, who has struck up a fine partnership with the Mullins camp.
That win, allied to major successes at Aintree from Lossiemouth and Gaelic Warrior, helped Mullins to bridge the gap to Dan Skelton in the British trainers’ championship.
A pulsating duel played out across April before it all came down to Sandown on the final day, with Mullins’ sheer weight of numbers taking care of business as Gaelic Warrior stepped up again and Il Etait Temps took the scalp of Jonbon in the Celebration Chase, the final Grade 1 race of the season in the UK.
Bowen lives out his dream with jockeys’ title win
It wasn’t all about Mullins at Sandown. Sean Bowen became champion jockey for the first time at the age of 27 and suggested he was fulfilling a childhood dream in doing so.
After hitting 1,000 career wins in February, the Welsh ace had just one target for the remainder of the season and he got there in style.
Over the duration of the season, Bowen covered 75,000 miles, with 902 rides and 180 wins. Sean’s parents, Peter and Karen Bowen, have been training racehorses since he was a child and he said this was the moment he’d dreamed of.
“I’ve fulfilled a childhood dream. When I was racing the ponies up the gallops with my brothers I was pretending to be Sir AP McCoy, Brian Hughes or Richard Johnson – legends of the game.”
Bowen finished just seven winners behind Harry Cobden 12 months ago despite spending six weeks on the sidelines following a fall in the Grade 1 Formby Novices’ Hurdle at Aintree on Boxing Day, but this time it was a landslide win.
He topped it off in the final week by winning the Irish Grand National on Haiti Couleurs for Rebecca Curtis at Fairyhouse, then landing the bet365 Gold Cup at Sandown on Resplendent Grey, trained by his staunch ally Olly Murphy, in a fitting finale.
Gosden’s dreaming with Field Of Gold
John Gosden’s lengthy training career doesn’t have many glaring omissions but one race the Clarehaven handler hasn’t checked off is the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket.
Gosden now operates under a joint-licence with his son, Thady, and they seemingly have major claims in the Rowley Mile classic after Field Of Gold stormed to glory in the Craven Stakes at Newmarket in mid-April.
The leading British trial for the colts’ one-mile classic saw the Juddmonte-owned son of Kingman having to bide his time waiting for racing room behind his rivals before he stormed clear to win by more than three lengths from Wimbledon Hawkeye as he powered through the line.
All eyes will turn to Newmarket on the first Saturday of May to see if Field Of Gold can deliver the last remaining piece of the British Classic jigsaw for Gosden, who has 13 wins across the other four top races in the Flat season for three-year-olds.
Loss of Liberty Island stuns Japan
There was heartache on the global stage in April as Japan mourned the loss of star performer Liberty Island.
She was one of Japan’s most popular racehorses. The five-year-old mare trained by Mitsumasa Nakauchida made history in 2023 when she won the Japanese equivalent of the Triple Crown, landing the Japanese 1,000 Guineas, Oaks and the Shuka Sho, which is known as the Triple Tiara.
Her career ended in tragedy when she sustained a fatal injury in the QEII Cup in Hong Kong.
Images of a tearful rider Yuga Kawada holding Liberty Island’s head even as vets ran to her aid at Sha Tin were widespread on social media, and the superstar jockey was clearly deeply touched by the tragic circumstances surrounding her death.
Kawada’s international successes include riding Japan’s first Breeders’ Cup winner Loves Only You, as well as steering Ushba Tesoro to victory in the Dubai World Cup.
He said of Liberty Island: “I’m sorry she had the worst ending. I am so sorry I took Liberty away from you all.
“She gave it her all until the very end. She endured without falling and protected me until the last. Even after she stopped, she acted calmly and remained strong.”