Emmets Mullins insists it's all about this year's Randox Grand National for last year's winner Noble Yeats as he is set to return to Aintree Racecourse a week on Saturday.
The County Carlow trainer says he is not looking back to Aintree 12 months ago, when Noble Yeats – under Sam Waley-Cohen – became the first seven-year-old to win the world's greatest steeplechase since Bogskar in 1940. Now it is all about focusing on his bid to become the 10th dual winner of the Grand National next week. Noble Yeats was a 50-1 chance last year but heads back to the famous Liverpool track as the 10-1 second favourite with most bookmakers behind 6-1 market leader Corach Rambler.
Now an eight-year-old and with a new jockey in Sean Bowen, who took over after Sam Waley-Cohen called time on his career in fairytale fashion with last year's success in the famous orange and brown colours of his father Robert Waley-Cohen. Bowen won the Many Clouds Chase over the Mildmay fences back at Aintree in December on Noble Yeats and the pair were a staying-on fourth behind Galopin Des Champs in the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup at last month's Cheltenham Festival. And now Noble Yeats and Mullins are eyeing more Aintree success.
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The Irish trainer said: "It's been a bit different but not too much, I've never really let myself dwell on it. Though we're getting close to it, it's all about this year and last year's done and dusted. It's all about getting back there this year. I genuinely don't look at Noble Yeats and think we won it last year, we're in it again this year and that's his aim."
Noble Yeats has improved from his National victory with two more wins and several fine runs in Graded contests. But with that improvement he is now up 19lb in the handicap and must carry second top weight of 11st11lb this time as opposed to 10st10lb 12 months ago.
On on his chances of winning the National again, Mullins added: "I probably wouldn't have told you much! But I was still very confident myself. At the weights launch he was about 16-1 or 20-1. I suppose his run at Cheltenham in the Ultima (when ninth before last year's National) was a bit disappointing but it was a big, competitive field and he was in among the hustle and bustle of it. Sam came away from it happy, I was too and that's when we decided that cheekpieces would be the little bit extra to get out of him."
He added: "He's been highly tried this year, we went down the Gold Cup route and we've probably gone up a few more pounds because of that. Tiger Roll had 11st5lb (when winning for the second time) and we're trying to come back 6lb higher with 11st11lb. Everything's going to be harder. No one knows until we go again and try, (but) he seems to have come out of it (Cheltenham) well. Sean will ride again, I think he got a ban but he was able to defer it with the Grade Ones at Aintree. Fingers crossed he can keep quiet and we'll have him in the plate again."
Although last year's win for the seven-year-old was a rare occurence, Mullins was unaware of the stats and was just concerned about Noble Yeats' ability to compete at Aintree. He said: "I didn't know about the stat about seven-year-olds, I was unaware of it so I wasn't concerned about it. "He had won a three-mile novice hurdle 12 months previous in Navan, or two (miles) six (furlongs) at least, he was always a relentless stayer who came from a point-to-point background. There was never any reason to worry. He gallops and he jumps, what more do you want?"
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Naturally the focus after last year's win was on amateur jockey Waley-Cohen, who had won over the National fences six times but was landing a first victory in the big one on his final ever ride. But the trainer recalls how the Carlow locals celebrated his own success and Mullins was taken aback by the massive homecoming the day after the victory. He said: "The biggest shock I got was coming home for the homecoming at the Lord Bagenal, I hadn't told anyone about it and I was genuinely shocked when I saw the crowds, all the local people that had come out to see him. That was the big one that hit home more than anything."
