A gentlemanly nod of the head. An appreciative tip of the cap. That is the way Willie Mullins likes to celebrate his major triumphs. Such is his preternatural calmness, you half‑suspect the arrival of the Four Horseman of Apocalypse would be greeted with a simple shrug of the shoulders. Yet on a raucous afternoon, the 67-year‑old Irishman was bellowing every bit as loudly as anyone else in the 70,000 crowd.
It came as the 7-1 joint favourite, I Am Maximus, soared over the last fence of a vintage Grand National, and his jockey Paul Townend pressed down hard on the accelerator.
