GENERATION GAME:WILLIE MULLINS has been one of the leading National Hunt trainers in Ireland for the last two decades.
At last month's Cheltenham festival, his 18-year-old son Patrick rode Cousin Vinny to victory in the Champion Bumper. Currently Patrick is on the run-in to the Irish jumps season when a first champion amateur jockey title is all but assured.
That will conclude a remarkable couple of months for the Clongowes College student who will sit his Leaving Cert next month. It will also highlight, yet again, a family success-story that goes far beyond father and son.
Even in a sport with more than its fair share of dynastic histories, the Mullins family stand out.
Jackie Mullins was a successful amateur jockey herself, riding alongside her husband, and remains a vital cog at the Co Carlow stables where her son rides out at every opportunity his studies allow.
Willie Mullins's brother Tony, a former champion professional jockey, is also a trainer, as is another brother Tom who has the major Grand National hope Chelsea Harbour in his care. Their sister, Sandra McCarthy, also trains while another brother, George, has a successful horse transport business.
The patriarch of this racing dynasty is Paddy Mullins, now 89, and guaranteed a place in the sport's history as the trainer of the legendary Gold Cup and Champion Hurdle winner Dawn Run. A champion trainer himself, and successful in almost every major jumps race in Ireland during a 50-year career, "the Boss" is now retired.
But a new generation of his family look sure to continue the Mullins tradition of supplying winners - after all, Paddy's wife Maureen still rejoices in the fact she has a 100 per cent record as a jockey having won the only race she ever rode in!
"I'm sure having the Mullins name must be an advantage," says Patrick who is determined to maintain the family training tradition. "That's the dream - to be as good as dad and grandad. I will ride as long as I can but that's not forever. Training is what I want to do."
That's hardly surprising considering his pedigree. He can't recall actually learning to ride, but does remember a little white pony called "Breeze" who was amenable enough to the enthusiastic urgings of the four-year-old boy on his back. By the time he was 12, Breeze's jockey had graduated to riding thoroughbreds on the home gallops - "like switching from a Golf to a Ferrari".
Willie recalls: "He has always had a great interest, which would have been the same as when I was growing up. Very few of the family wouldn't have that interest. Tony's eldest, Anthony, would be an exception. But Patrick also had more confidence on a horse than most, which I suppose came from doing it every day. There are lads who come in here that are well able to ride but can be apprehensive getting to know the formats and the system here. Patrick had none of that."
Being a full-time boarder in Clongowes has curtailed daily riding-out but it hasn't damaged a riding career as an amateur that threatens to at least emulate his father's own riding achievements. They included a Champion Bumper victory of his own in 1996 at Cheltenham as well as a memorable win over the fearsome Aintree fences in the 1983 Foxhunters.
"I enjoyed every minute of it and I couldn't see myself doing anything else for a long time," Willie recalls.
"But then I got to the stage where I just had enough. There wasn't the same kick in it. I combined riding and training for a while and what happened was that I was feeling even more disappointment when riding losers. But for a long time there was no better fun in life than riding in races."
However, his experiences did colour the way he has tried to manage Patrick's burgeoning career. They also revealed a possible downside to carrying such a famous name.
"In many ways, being a trainer's son is a huge disadvantage. You maybe get more opportunities from your own stable but other guys are less inclined to give you rides. There's a view that someone might be trading on the name," Willie says.
"A lot of trainers can also find themselves under pressure justifying putting their child up if something goes wrong. I was very careful not to put Patrick up on favourites early on. I wouldn't put that pressure on him. Now he has earned the right to ride the better horses."
Both father and son agree that an amateur riding career is likely in the immediate future although weight - Patrick can ride at 10½ stone - all but rules out a switch to the professional ranks.
But there is also the question of a Leaving Cert to sort out.
"A few years in college would be my plan for him," Willie says, a topic that is sidelined with a diplomacy that no doubt will serve his son well in the future: "That's a while away yet!"
Patrick adds: "I'll be able to concentrate more on the Leaving after the season ends. Clongowes is near a lot of the tracks and I usually ride in the last race so it might mean me missing the last two classes the odd day. I do miss study in the school but I try to fill in at other times, even in the car."
One memorable full day away, however, came three weeks ago on Cousin Vinny when the champion amateur beat the best of the professionals including the number one jockey at the Mullins yard, Ruby Walsh.
"If I ever have a day like that again in my life, I will be very lucky," he remembers, a sentiment, echoed by this dad. "It was the most memorable day of my career," Willie says. "It's so hard to train or ride a winner at Cheltenham but to 'breed' one too was something else!"
Just more proof that the Mullins dynasty continues to be in rude good health.
