While all eyes will be on Galopin Des Champs in his bid for a third Irish Gold Cup at the weekend, one horse – Florida Pearl – stands out on his own, with an unparalleled four victories in the Leopardstown race that has had so many great winners down the years.
The original superstar of Willie Mullins’ now all-conquering Closutton operation, some of the best jockeys to grace the saddle took up the reins aboard Florida pearl during his decorated career.
Richard Johnson had that honour bestowed upon him in somewhat fortunate circumstances ahead of Florida Pearl’s quest for a third successive win in what was then the Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup in 2001.
It would be the first success in a partnership that yielded three victories from the four occasions they joined forces and Johnson can look back fondly on one of the most popular horses of his era.

“As we all know, Willie Mullins is a genius, but I would say Florida Pearl was one of his first real superstars,” said Johnson.
“He was an amazing horse and I still pinch myself now that I was asked to ride him. He was the pride of Ireland, so for an Englishman to be asked to ride is something I feel very proud about and I was very honoured.
“He was one of those who when you rode him, it felt like he was just having a nice day out when everyone else was hard at work, he travelled so strongly through his races and as a jockey it was the greatest ride ever.
“The first day I rode him was because Ruby Walsh got concussion the day before, so it was kind of a last-minute call-up and it worked out really well, winning the Irish Hennessy on him. He was just a very good horse who had an amazing career.”
The Florida Pearl Irish Gold Cup Phenomenon 🏆
Not one, not two, not three but FOUR Irish Gold Cups for the legendary horse trained by Willie Mullins making him the most successful horse ever in the race 🏇 #dublinracingfestival #irishgoldcup pic.twitter.com/k0HvaDzzyi
— Leopardstown RC (@LeopardstownRC) January 14, 2025
Very few horses get the perfect send-off and after the likes of Adrian Maguire and Barry Geraghty had their moments in the spotlight aboard Florida Pearl, Johnson was back on board for his fitting career swansong at his spiritual home and in the race the great horse will always be associated with.
Some three years after the duo had combined for Irish Hennessy number three, they were reunited as Florida Pearl left some of the disappointments of the previous season behind and roared back to his very best at the age of 12 in front of his adoring Dublin crowd.
“Everyone in racing loved the horse, especially in Ireland – and he had a huge following,” added Johnson.
“He came back and I won a two-mile chase on him at Fairyhouse and he then went to Leopardstown to win his fourth Irish Hennessy, which was incredible and as it turned out he finished his career with a special moment and on a real high.
“He was an amazing horse and I was privileged to be just a little part of his career. He travelled so, so strongly, he was a brilliant jumper and he did everything – as a jockey, all you needed to do was point him in the right direction.”

In the commentary box that afternoon was Cornelius Lysaght, who was calling the race for BBC Radio 5 Live and captured the occasion perfectly.
He said: “He had been through his period in the wilderness and he had won his race at Fairyhouse, but it wasn’t the most startling news he had won it and we went to Leopardstown wondering if he could build on that?
“At the time, you have to remember Willie Mullins was in his mid 40s and may have been champion trainer the once, but you can’t even begin to vaguely compare it to the operation he runs today.
“He was at a time where it was not unusual for horses to have a really serious following and Florida Pearl unquestionably had that. They didn’t do the scarves in the silks those days, but if they did everyone would have been wearing a red scarf with white bits on it.”
The race appeared Florida Pearl’s for the taking once Harbour Pilot ejected Paul Carberry at the second-last, but Lysaght remembers there was one last challenge for the great warrior of Irish racing to navigate.
He continued: “Harbour Pilot made a mistake at the second-last that not even the great Paul Carberry could survive and on Florida Pearl went.
“It looked like it would be a glorious stride up to the last and on to the finish, but then Harbour Pilot, while loose, decided to play his part and Florida Pearl, who had got quite wide at the last fence, ended up jumping it on the inside because Harbour Pilot had got close and pushed him right across the track.
“Barry Geraghty on Le Coudray could sense that and began to mount a challenge and although I was inclined to give it the ‘Florida Pearl is striding home…’, it was apparent, for a few strides at least, that Le Coudray was beginning to narrow the gap.
“It was magnificent and Leopardstown is such an intimate track that when a crowd starts running to the area around where the winner is unsaddled, I think more than any of the top racecourses, you feel the rush. You are fighting your way down the stairs and the escalators and therefore it is really accentuated how much people were fighting to get a good spot and get a share of the action.

“I’m sure there was a lot of noise and that wasn’t because he had crowned his career and was going out on a high, it was because Florida Pearl is back and now a crack at the Gold Cup awaits.
“Mullins was absolutely ecstatic and at that stage he’d only really had a couple of Grade One horses. It helped put him on the map and in an era where there was a big appetite for the best Irish horses to go over and take on the Brits, Florida Peal was the great standard bearer and they were desperate for a Gold Cup horse – nowadays they win both the Gold Cup and Grand National before breakfast.
“They were gagging for him to go back to Cheltenham and serve it up to the Brits. He had never won the Gold Cup and that is the big gap on his CV.
“He didn’t go to Cheltenham or Punchestown in the end and then they retired him in Galway.”
As well as his four Leopardstown triumphs, Florida Pearl famously conquered the great Best Mate to land the 2001 King George at Kempton and earlier in his career registered two Cheltenham Festival victories, in the Champion Bumper (1997) and Royal & SunAlliance Chase (1998).
However, the famous Cheltenham hill ultimately proved his match in the quest for an elusive Cheltenham Gold Cup, with two visits to the podium as close as he came to capturing the blue riband in three lung-busting attempts.

Somewhat ironically, considering what was to come, Johnson would prove Florida Pearl’s nemesis when grinding down the Irish challenger for Gold Cup glory aboard Looks Like Trouble in 2000 – almost a year before he would go on to call the nine-time Grade One winner his ally.
“He ran some great races in the Gold Cup, but I think realistically he just didn’t quite see out that trip,” explained Johnson.
“He’s one of those that perhaps in hindsight they might have run him in some shorter races, but the Gold Cup is always the pinnacle. The Ryanair didn’t exist in those days, but I’m sure if it did it would have been the perfect race for him.”
Perhaps Lysaght sums it up best: “He jumped brilliantly, was quite distinctive looking, had a cast of the best jockeys, he was so reliable and he always showed up. He was a proper great.
“He never won a Gold Cup and some would judge him on that, but it is a funny thing that you can do so many great things and win so many races, but without the Gold Cup, people can put that slight question mark next to you. But there is no question mark with him.
“This horse absolutely put his trainer in lights and he was right up there in terms of popularity, like Danoli, like Beef Or Salmon, like Best Mate as well in this country. These horses had real followings and he was right up there with the best of those.”