Kilkenny trainer 'deeply honoured' after receiving honorary doctorate

The South East Technological University (SETU) have awarded an honorary doctorate to Kilkenny champion racehorse trainer Willie Mullins, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the sport of horse racing and his impact on Irish culture and heritage in the southeast, and nationally. 

The honour was presented during the University's conferring ceremony at the National Opera House in Wexford.

from Goresbridge, the local trainer began his training career in 1988, having worked as an assistant to both his father Paddy, and to trainer, Jim Bolger. With firm roots in the southeast and has based his work as a trainer at Closutton in Bagenalstown, County Carlow. 

Mullins is a former six-time amateur champion in Ireland and among his greatest moments in the saddle were winning the 1983 Aintree Foxhunters on the horse, ‘Atha Cliath’, and the 1996 Cheltenham Champion Bumper on ‘Wither or Which’.

He has since become a eighteen-time Irish National Hunt Champion trainer and the most successful trainer in the history of the Cheltenham Festival, having saddled more than 100 winners.

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Victories in the Grand National, the Cheltenham Gold Cup, The King George, the Champion Hurdle in England, Ireland, and France, the Supreme Novice Hurdle, are just some of his high-profile achievements in a glittering career to date.

"I am deeply honoured to receive this recognition from South East Technological University," Mullins commented.

"It is not only a personal achievement to have my life’s work and contribution recognised by our regional University, but also a testament to the incredible team of staff and jockeys I work with, and of course our beloved horses," he added.