Paddy Mullins (28 January 1919 – 28 October 2010) was an Irish racehorse trainer in a career which spanned fifty two years.

Training career

His first winner was Flash Parade, which won the 1953 La Touche at

Punchestown Punchestown Racecourse is located in the parish of Eadestown, between the R410 and R411 regional roads near Naas, County Kildare, in Ireland. It is known as the home of Irish Jumps Racing and plays host to the annual Punchestown Irish National ...

. Although he was predominantly a jump trainer, with six

Cheltenham Festival The Cheltenham Festival is a horse racing-based meeting in the National Hunt racing calendar in the United Kingdom, with race prize money second only to the Grand National. The four-day festival takes place annually in March at Cheltenham Rac ...

successes, four Irish National winners and ten Irish jump trainers' titles, two of his greatest successes were achieved on the Flat. Mullins trained the mare

Dawn Run Dawn Run (1978–1986) was an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse (Deep Run - Twilight Slave) who was the most successful racemare in the history of National Hunt racing. She won the Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in 1984 and the Chelten ...

to win Cheltenham's

Champion Hurdle The Champion Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham over a ...

in 1984 and Gold Cup in 1986. Ridden in both races by

Jonjo O'Neill John Joseph "Jonjo" O'Neill (born 13 April 1952) is an Irish National Hunt racehorse trainer and former jockey. He is a native of Castletownroche, County Cork in Ireland. Based at the Jackdaws Castle training establishment in England. O'Neill ...

, she is commemorated with a statue overlooking the Cheltenham paddock. He also won the 2003

Irish Oaks The Irish Oaks is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 1 mile and 4 furlongs (2,414 metres), and it is s ...

with

Vintage Tipple Vintage Tipple (foaled 17 January 2000) is an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare. She showed considerable promise as a two-year-old in 2002 when she won both of her races by clear margins. In the following spring she finished second in ...

and saddled Hurry Harriet to success in the 1973

Champion Stakes The Champion Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 1 mile and 2 furlong ...

at Newmarket.

Family

He is the father of trainers Tom Mullins, Willie Mullins and Tony Mullins. Mullins trained at Goresbridge,

County Kilkenny County Kilkenny ( gle, Contae Chill Chainnigh) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the South-East Region. It is named after the city of Kilkenny. Kilkenny County Council is the local authority for the cou ...

, from where son Tom assumed control when he retired from training in February, 2005.

Tributes

Mullins died on 28 October 2010. Many tributes were made by fellow trainers, "He was a great friend of mine for a long number of years and he was a top-class trainer," said Jim Bolger. Trainer

Noel Meade Noel Meade is a horse trainer from Castletown, County Meath, Ireland. He established Tu Va Stables in Meath as a place to train his horses. Early career: flat racing Meade began his career as a horse trainer in 1971,

described Mullins as a "legend" he left "an incredible dynasty behind him".

References

External links

''Daily Telegraph Obituary''
2010 deaths Irish racehorse trainers 1919 births Equestrians from County Kilkenny People from Goresbridge {{Ireland-equestrian-bio-stub