I thought it was a magnificent performance considering how badly he jumped going away from the stands. He just missed one or two there and Jody (McGarvey) left him alone and let him find his own feet. When he got half down the back, and around the fifth last, once he saw the stands I think he just clicked into a another gear. I don't know how good he is, but he's certainly improving with every run. However, he does love Fairyhouse and maybe this is his track, he certainly has an engine. It's very hard to quicken in this ground, he has a big engine in there. I'd imagine he goes for the Grand National, he would look a Gold Cup horse in time but I'd imagine Aintree is his objective. I'm not worried about ground for him. I don't know how good he is yet because he just keeps improving. W P Mullins

Sat, 11th Apr, 2026  It was a good call from JP, I’d been going down the Gold Cup route with him, but he said to stay in Aintree with him as he felt he was well handicapped. Paul just executed it so well. He’s a superb horse who got a fantastic ride and I think the most trouble he got was from his stablemates and his co-pilots, they didn’t give him much room. It is (hard to win off top-weight), but maybe the modern-day National is changing and we’re looking at it a bit differently. It’s the race we aspire (to win). It’s the race you want to win and be a part of — just to have a runner is a tremendous sensation. He is just a superstar — nothing fazes him. He comes out, does what he has to do and wins Nationals. W P Mullins

Sat, 11th Apr, 2026  It was a good call from JP, I’d been going down the Gold Cup route with him, but he said to stay in Aintree with him as he felt he was well handicapped. Paul just executed it so well. He’s a superb horse who got a fantastic ride and I think the most trouble he got was from his stablemates and his co-pilots, they didn’t give him much room. It is (hard to win off top-weight), but maybe the modern-day National is changing and we’re looking at it a bit differently. It’s the race we aspire (to win). It’s the race you want to win and be a part of — just to have a runner is a tremendous sensation. He is just a superstar — nothing fazes him. He comes out, does what he has to do and wins Nationals. W P Mullins

After race at Aintree Sat, 13th Apr, 2024 (1st)  It was an excellent ride. I had said before the race that we didn’t know how good this horse was, today he showed that he’s better than he had been. I thought he still had a little bit from the handicapper after the Bobbyjo and he’s proved it today. Paul was excellent, he kidded him round the inside, he got chopped up a couple of times and probably didn’t jump as clean as he could, but he was looking for the gaps and when he eventually got it he was all right. I could see Paul’s body language and he was happy, so I was happy then. I don’t think I said anything until he got over the last and then I let go (and gave him a cheer). He’s a tremendous horse. He has his own way of doing things, he’s quirky and immature but he’s learning all the time. It’s extraordinary how we came to have him. Nicky Henderson had him before me, Michael Grech moved his horses to Ireland and Nicky said to me ‘make sure you get him’ and it was fine advice. Nicky could see the talent that he had and we just had to nurture it, so thanks to Nicky and also Henrietta Knight who organised all that. To win an Irish National and an English National is impressive. I think he could be a Gold Cup horse, but we don’t know how good he could be because he doesn’t do it at home. He’s quirky, but he has huge ability and until others get the better of him, we won’t know how good he is. W P Mullins

After race at Fairyhouse Sat, 24th Feb, 2024 (1st)  I thought it was a magnificent performance considering how badly he jumped going away from the stands. He just missed one or two there and Jody (McGarvey) left him alone and let him find his own feet. When he got half down the back, and around the fifth last, once he saw the stands I think he just clicked into a another gear. I don't know how good he is, but he's certainly improving with every run. However, he does love Fairyhouse and maybe this is his track, he certainly has an engine. It's very hard to quicken in this ground, he has a big engine in there. I'd imagine he goes for the Grand National, he would look a Gold Cup horse in time but I'd imagine Aintree is his objective. I'm not worried about ground for him. I don't know how good he is yet because he just keeps improving. W P Mullins

After race at Fairyhouse Sun, 3rd Dec, 2023 (1st)  That’s a nice bonus on his last day as a novice. He’s a total character, as you could see from his early days racing. Paul (Townend) gave him a great ride in the Irish National and Jody gets on well with him and gave him a super ride there. He looks a class horse now rather than a handicapper, so maybe we’ll have to make different plans for him now. We were hoping he’d have a chance over the trip and the fact that it was his last day as a novice to give him the opportunity. He’s clearly improved from last year and obviously shows a liking for Fairyhouse. He has a funny action when you look at him head on and I’d imagine softer ground is to his liking. I thought he was beaten turning for home and to produce what he did up the straight was very good. W P Mullins

After race at Fairyhouse Sun, 3rd Dec, 2023 (1st)  That’s a nice bonus on his last day as a novice. He won his maiden in nice circumstances here and has come back now to win a Grade 1 novice. He’s a total character as you could see from his early days racing. Paul gave him a great ride in the Irish National and Jody gets on well with him and gave him a super ride there. He looks a class horse now rather than a handicapper so maybe we’ll have to make different plans for him now. We were hoping he’d have a chance over the trip and the fact that it was his last day as a novice to give him the opportunity. He’s clearly improved from last year and obviously shows a liking for Fairyhouse. He has a funny action when you look at him head on and I’d imagine softer ground is to his liking. I thought he was beaten turning for home and to produce what he did up the straight was very good. This year we were maybe looking at going for the English National and whether we change and go for Grade 1 races now I’m not sure. We’ll have to have a word with Frank (Berry) and JP and see what they want to do. I didn’t speak to Paul yet but for me Sharjah clearly didn’t like the ground and you could see that from his head action. W P Mullins