Patrick Mullins is weighed in by Colleen Murphy after his record 546th winner© Photo Healy Racing
Patrick Mullins became the winning-most amateur rider of all time when Queens Boulevard won the bumper in Sligo.
This success took Mullins (28) to 546 career victories as he passed Ted Walsh's record of 545 on board the five-year-old mare trained by his father Willie Mullins.
He had equalled the record yesterday on Irish Lass at Limerick.
“That's fantastic and it's something quite cool,” Patrick Mullins said.
“Obviously I couldn't have done it without standing on what my parents have built in Closutton and on what my grandparents built in Duninga before that.
“I'm in a very privileged position and get a lot of opportunities. It's good to be able to make the most of them.
“I'm riding for Willie Mullins so that makes the job a lot easier.
“It's something I was told about a few years ago when I got the record in a calendar year and it's something I've been aiming for.
“It would be nice to get to a thousand. It's taken me 12 years to get this far so if I rode till I was 40, my father did that, I might do it.
“I see Derek (O'Connor) with a thousand point-to-point winners so that's probably the next aim but that's a long way off."
Queens Boulevard (4/7f) travelled well between horses to grab the lead turning in but she was pressed up the home straight by newcomer Just A Boy
Queens Boulevard found more in the final furlong though, to close out the race by half a length from the 3/1 runner-up. Brooks Falls completed the placings in third at 16/1.
Patrick Mullins said of Queens Boulevard: "I thought she might win easier. I thought she maybe didn't handle the track and the ground. I think she'll come on a lot from it and I think she's better than the bare result.
“She battled all the way to the line but she was kind of leaning off the bends and I felt she maybe didn't let herself down on the ground.
“It's quite quick out there. Sligo used to be on the slow side but now that they've put the drainage in it's quick like all the other tracks. I think with a bit more juice she'd probably let herself down a bit more."
Mullins has long been a potent force in bumpers, but has also shown himself to be equally adept over obstacles, winning his share of high-profile races — and on big names.
They include Grade Ones on the mighty Douvan, Un De Sceaux, Wicklow Brave and Bacardys, while he was also in the saddle when Faugheen won his first bumper at Punchestown in May, 2013, beating Josses Hill by 22 lengths.
His first Grade One win came through Cousin Vinny in the Champion Bumper at Cheltenham in 2008.
Additional reporting by Gary Carson
