patrick mullins is at the center of the latest Grand National twist after Nick Rockett was withdrawn from Saturday’s race at Aintree. The 2025 winner was ruled out after coughing, ending hopes of a repeat run in the 16: 00 ET start. The final 34-runner field was then reshaped again when reserve runner Pied Piper also became a non-runner.
Patrick Mullins loses last year’s winner
Nick Rockett, trained by Willie Mullins and ridden to victory last year by Patrick Mullins, will not defend his crown. The horse finished two-and-a-half lengths clear of 2024 winner I Am Maximus 12 months ago, but was declared a non-runner after being reported to be coughing.
The withdrawal removes a horse that was trying to become only the second back-to-back winner since Red Rum completed a famous sequence in the 1970s. It also leaves Willie Mullins with one fewer contender in a race where his team still has eight runners in the field.
When the 2026 line-up was announced on Wednesday, Patrick Mullins had already chosen to ride Grangeclare West instead of Nick Rockett, with Tom Bellamy taking over on the defending champion. That decision became moot once the horse was pulled out of the race.
Patrick Mullins and the reshaped final field
The reserve list also shifted late in the day. Pied Piper, who had initially been handed a place after Nick Rockett’s withdrawal, did not take up the chance after trainer Gordon Elliott said the horse was lame. Imperial Saint, trained by Philip Hobbs and Johnson White, moved into the field, while Amirite became the final runner after Spillane’s Tower came out following Thursday’s Aintree Bowl.
The cut-off for the remaining reserves passed at 13: 00 ET on Friday, confirming the final field of 34. Any further non-runners will now only reduce the size of the line-up, with bets on those horses refunded as normal.
That leaves I Am Maximus as the 7-1 favourite, with Paul Townend booked for the ride for the third year in a row. He will be trying to become the first top weight to win the race since Red Rum in 1974, while Willie Mullins is still aiming to become the first trainer to win the race in three straight years since Vincent O’Brien did it between 1953 and 1955.
Official comments and the immediate reaction
Patrick Mullins said the team had tried to give Nick Rockett every chance before the withdrawal was confirmed. “It is 72-hour declarations for the Grand National, and we wanted to give him every chance, but he gave a few coughs this morning and that made up our mind with him, ” he said.
He added that the horse needed to be fully right for a race of this kind. “It is frustrating, but it was a case of everything needed to go right to get him here and, unfortunately, we just didn’t get everything go right. He could have run, but we didn’t want to do that if he wasn’t 110 per cent, ” Mullins said. “You need to be 110 per cent to run in a race like the Grand National and, unfortunately, he is not at the moment. We will look at Punchestown now. ”
Gordon Elliott also explained why Pied Piper was ruled out after being named as the replacement runner. “He is going to miss the race. We left the yard yesterday morning and rolled out and everything was sound, 100%, ” Elliott said. “He was a bit tight yesterday evening and he’s just not right this morning, he’s lame behind, so obviously horses come first and foremost. ”
What happens next at Aintree
With the final field now set, attention turns fully to Saturday’s Grand National at 16: 00 ET. The race will go ahead with the updated 34-runner line-up after a day of late changes that first affected Nick Rockett and then Pied Piper.
For Patrick Mullins, the headline is simple: the horse he rode to last year’s win is out, the ride has already shifted, and the race now moves on without Nick Rockett in the field. The closing hours before the start have already changed the shape of the contest, and patrick mullins remains one of the names most closely tied to the biggest story of the week.
