Gentleman De Mee

The ten-year-old is trained by Willie Mullins at his yard in Co Carlow, Ireland, one of the most powerful operations in jump racing. This season alone, the yard has sent out 230 winners, so it tells you something that Gentleman De Mee holds a special place in their plans. His career record reads 5 wins and 10 places from 25 races — he wins roughly 1 in every 5 races overall — but the raw numbers only tell part of the story. What matters more is where and when those wins have come.

Two of his five career wins have arrived at Aintree, from just three visits to the track. That is a remarkable conversion rate — 2 from 3 — at a course that tests horses to their absolute limit. His most recent win came there on 4 April 2025, in one of the top races in Britain, the Topham Chase, a race run over the famous Grand National fences. His jockey Mark Walsh had him towards the back after a slow start, but described the horse simply "winging fences" as the race developed — the kind of language you use when a horse is doing something effortless, almost automatic. Walsh had also won at Aintree with him back in April 2022, meaning the pair have now shared both of the horse's biggest days. Together they win 1 in every 4 races — 4 wins from 16 — which is a strong partnership by any measure.

Mullins is straightforward about what to expect from him: he always needs his first run of the season to blow away the cobwebs, and he tends to sharpen up in spring. With the Topham already on his record, the plan is to go back to Aintree in April and try to do it all over again. That is not wishful thinking — it is a plan built on real evidence.

At ten years old, Gentleman De Mee is not getting younger, but he raced just one day ago and remains very much in training. He has placed in 10 of his 25 races, which means he has rarely run without giving the team something. But it is those April afternoons at Aintree, flying over the big fences, that are his calling card.