Willie Mullins gets royal seal of approval as he becomes first Irish trainer to saddle a horse for the British monarch

The bell to herald history tolled at 820pm on Friday evening. A small, enthusiastic crowd had gathered around the parade ring at Leopardstown racecourse and there they saw the most distinguished silks in racing appear.

Here was Jody Townend, younger sister of multiple Cheltenham Gold winning jockey Paul, in the colours of The King and Queen. No matter how many times you have seen them, the black hat, purple sleeves and red body with the gold braids, never fail to catch your eye.

Royal runners here are rare, the last high-profile one being Dartmouth in the 2017 Irish St Leger, but this was something different. Townend, after chatting to Paul Johnston, the British Ambassador to Ireland, was legged up to ride Reaching High in the Lady Riders Handicap.

Together they were ready to break new ground. For Reaching High became the first runner to be saddled by an Irish trainer for the reigning British Monarchs, the responsibility of preparing the horse being granted to Willie Mullins. Here was the start of a new – and fascinating – relationship.

‘It’s a huge honour, isn’t it?’ said the trainer’s son, Patrick. ‘It’s fantastic King Charles has carried on the support that the late Queen Elizabeth II was so good with. It created a huge buzz way beyond the sport. I was invited on (popular radio show) Morning Ireland on Thursday to talk about it.

‘It made the national newspapers and it was clear to see it had been picked up beyond the boundaries of racing in a very positive light. I don’t ever recall seeing the silks ‘live’, so to speak. They are unusual, so distinct and classy, as you would expect.’

John Warren, Racing Manager to the Royal Family, explained The Queen drove the decision to send Reaching High to Ireland with the potential to one day run at Cheltenham, a meeting where she watched the then Prince Charles suffer a high-profile fall in the 1981 Kim Muir Chase.

It is their wish, according to Warren, to “have some fun” with Reaching High, who used to be trained by Sir Michael Stoute. Some will wonder why the horse didn’t stay in Newmarket after Stoute retired but the relationships with the Royal Family and Mullins can be traced to Ascot last summer.

‘We got a phone call a little while after asking whether we would be interested,’ Patrick adds. ‘And, of course, we were more than delighted. We’d know exactly, too, how important it is for the Royal family to have that interest in racing.’

It makes total sense, in that respect, to turn to the services of the king of National Hunt racing, a man who has been the UK’s champion for the last two seasons and has more than 100 Cheltenham winners on CV. There will, however, be more immediate targets to pursue.

Mullins is no stranger to success at the Royal meeting and has been trying to win the Gold Cup for years; it was the late Queen’s wonderful filly Estimate who denied the yard in 2013, so it is fitting the mare’s son, Reaching High, should end up in the 68-year-old’s care.

‘I was travelling through Australia in 2013,’ Patrick recalls. ‘I was with my cousin, Emmett, in Airlie Beach listening to commentary of the Gold Cup. We were screaming for our horse, Simenon, but he just couldn’t get by Estimate.’

There was some screaming done on Friday, too, from the stands. Reaching High hadn’t run since last August and he wasn’t fully fit but plenty backed him and Townend almost conjured a winning run after being bumped, the pair being denied in a photo-finish and then, again, in a stewards’ enquiry.

‘It was great to be a part of history and there was definitely a buzz around the course,’ said Townend. ‘It was a shame we didn’t get up but he ran a cracker. To wear these silks was a brilliant. I’d have loved to have won but I’d say he will get his head in front soon enough.’

With Mullins in charge, you can be sure it will be sooner rather than later.