Willie Mullins' Grand National Contender Appreciate It Retired Immediately After Injury

Appreciate It, the 12-year-old trained by Willie Mullins and owned by the Masterson family, has been retired with immediate effect after sustaining an injury in his last run, Patrick Mullins confirmed. The decision removes a high-profile contender from the build-up to this year’s Grand National and brings an abrupt end to a career that featured top-level peaks and recurring setbacks.

The Cheltenham Festival standout stormed to the 2021 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle in emphatic fashion, “sluicing up by 24 lengths,” and went on to collect three Grade 1 victories in total. Across 27 starts he won 10 races and amassed more than £400,000 in prize money, figures that underpinned his reputation even as injury interrupted sustained success on the track.

Appreciate It’s final victory came in the Grade 2 Horse & Jockey Hotel Chase at Thurles on January 18. Reports described the retirement as coming “just days after his last win,” while other wording in the coverage referred to the announcement as “a month after his last win.” He had been “set for a spin in this year’s Grand National” before the injury curtailed those plans.

Patrick Mullins, speaking about the decision, said plainly: “He picked up an injury in his last run.” He paid tribute to the horse’s service and memory, adding, “He was a great servant, and he’ll have a long and happy retirement, hopefully.” Reflecting on the 2021 Supreme, Patrick said: “His Supreme win was phenomenal – how far he won by was extraordinary.” He also recalled a career highlight over fences: “I had a good day out with him at the DRF and obviously as a chaser on one day we split Galopin Des Champs and Fast Or Slow in the John Durkan.”

The news lands against the backdrop of Willie Mullins’ extraordinary training résumé. Born 15 September 1956 and listed at age 69 in biographical records, Mullins has more than 4,000 training wins to his name and had saddled 113 Cheltenham winners as of 2025. He was the first Irish trainer since Vincent O’Brien to claim the British championship in 2024, and his yard produced the 2024 Grand National winner I Am Maximus and the 2025 winner Nick Rockett in the records cited. BBC reporting of recent seasons noted that Mullins closed a prize-money gap on Dan Skelton by £860,000 with a National result and that father and son combined to secure a concluding-day success with Green Splendour; Patrick reflected on his father’s drive: “It's my father's ambition. He's nearly 69 but he keeps wanting to get bigger and get better. I don't see him retiring, I just see him dying one day.”

The Grand National setting itself carries acute risk and scrutiny; Jockey Club reporting from recent Nationals described incidents where long-time leader Broadway Boy suffered a heavy fall and Celebre D'Allen was pulled up and both horses were walked onto horse ambulances after assessment by course vets. With Appreciate It retired, Mullins will lose a headline name once earmarked for Aintree, and the Masterson family’s 12-year-old will be pensioned off after a career that combined a 24-length Cheltenham triumph with recurring injury interruptions. As Patrick said, the aim now is for Appreciate It to enjoy “a long and happy retirement, hopefully.”