It was a perfect spring day but, even still, everyone knew a storm was about to roll off the Dublin Mountains and engulf Fairyhouse racecourse.
‘As soon as we walked onto the track, there was only one horse being spoken about,’ said Billy Rogers, a representative for Seamus Mulvaney bookmakers. ‘Soldier In Milan was the name on everyone’s lips. It reminded me of what happened with I Am Maximus in 2023.’
Rogers was right to have a grim sense of foreboding. Soldier In Milan had run just four times over fences, he was a novice amongst many gnarled professionals, but who needs experience when you have talent and a Rolls-Royce engine?
The Boyle Sports Irish Grand National is synonymous with nail-biting finishes but this became the kind of procession that left mouths open and the satchels of those taking bets in the ring empty; Rogers reckoned his pitch was €10,000 lighter by 5.15pm. It was even worse for the sponsors.
‘You could have got 20/1 for Soldier In Milan last week,’ Brian O’Keefe, the spokesperson for Boyle Sports, revealed. ‘But they really came for him on the day, to such an extent he went off the 6/1 favourite. We have been left licking our wounds. It was a nightmare result.’
For them, perhaps. But not for the vast majority of the 18,753 (up from 16,577 in 2025) who squeezed into Fairyhouse and made the kind of noise that made your ears ring as on old-fashioned gamble was landed. This was a giddy afternoon when racing again showed its unique ability to offer some much-needed escapism.
Everywhere you looked there were stories, not least the remarkable 12-year-old Energumene, who won the Grade Two Fairyhouse Steeplechase with such class, and his jockey Paul Townend sitting motionless, that you could see exactly why he was once the quickest horse in training over two miles.
But then the spotlight shifted. Soldier In Milan had been prepared for this assignment by Emmet Mullins and the audacity of this plan’s execution had successful owner Paul Byrne proclaiming him to be a magician and, in this case, it didn’t feel like hyperbole.
Donagh Meyler cruises to victory on Soldier in Milan at Fairyhouse on Monday
It was only last May that Soldier In Milan was running in a bumper, a race without obstacles, at the Punchestown Festival. He failed to complete his first start over fences at Leopardstown on December 28 and had been underwhelming on his last appearance at Thurles 32 days ago.
But here, as he skipped across the fences down Ballyhack and made the 31mph at which he was galloping look like a stroll, he showed his true potential and, clearly, everyone who screamed themselves hoarse knew that was going to be the case.
‘It was as easy a watch as you could get,’ said Byrne, gasping. ‘It was just a case of hoping he would get over the last but he did. Donagh (Meyler) was brilliant on him. I can’t believe it. We thought he was well handicapped and it’s nice to get the odd thing right. We found a nut!’
Byrne and Mullins’s day had started perfectly, when Jet To Monte Carlo scooted away with the opening handicap hurdle, but everything revolved around the race that creates legends, a staple of the Easter sporting programme.
‘I pinched myself when he jumped the last fence with a circuit to go,’ said Mullins. ‘He was jumping, he was travelling and everything was going very smoothly. I had warned Donagh to wait as long as he could before hitting the front but he gave him a perfect ride.’
Once he hit the front four fences out, this three-and-a-half mile contest was all over: Showurappreciation, The Enabler and Argento Boy filled the minor places but they only deserve a passing mention because it was a one-horse race.
Meyler celebrates with trainer Emmet Mullins (left), nephew of three-time Grand National-winning trainer Willie
‘A well-backed favourite winning an Irish National is something special and it was greatly received,’ added Mullins, nephew of perennial champion Willie, who is going for his third straight Grand National win at Aintree on Saturday.
‘It’s an honour and privilege to be associated. We decided in August or September that we were going over fences and here we are.
‘We wanted to keep low mileage and get the four runs you need to qualify. It was well executed, I suppose. There are lots of plans that go awry. You can have a plan but, really, you are only hoping. There is no replica at home for a situation such as that.
‘You are hoping the horse has got the mentality for it and the courage to cope with the cavalry charge down to the first fence and come out of it with a good position. We thought we had a classy individual and, thankfully, it has played out that way.’
No sooner had Soldier In Milan crossed the line, he was receiving quotes for the 2027 Cheltenham Gold Cup and, with this ability, it wouldn’t be difficult to see him mixing it with Gaelic Warrior in the Cotswolds next March.
When that was put to Mullins, his reaction was unexpected.
‘There is a route back from the Aintree Grand National as well, remember,’ he said, reminding you that he had annexed the great race in Liverpool with a novice, Noble Yeats, in 2022. ‘We won’t be nailing our colours to the mast just yet.’
Nor should they: Soldier In Milan could take Mullins and Byrne anywhere. Follow this journey closely.
