Salvator Mundi

The highlights tell a clear story. He broke his duck at Tipperary in May 2024, but it was Aintree in April 2025 where things got serious — a Class 1 win, one of the top races in Britain, the kind of result that changes how people think about a horse. Mullins admitted afterwards that it had taken longer than expected to get a Grade 1 on the board, but they had tweaked the tactics, let the horse run freely, and it clicked. Paul Townend, who rides him more than anyone else, had him settled and jumping well, with the horse even self-correcting a tendency to drift right mid-race — a detail that impressed Mullins enough to mention it, because it suggests a horse that is genuinely thinking at full speed.

Townend's record on him is remarkable: 4 wins from 6 races together, which works out to winning roughly 2 in every 3 times they're paired. That is an extraordinary partnership by any measure. And then there is Punchestown, where Salvator Mundi has won 2 of his 3 races — including one just this week on 30 April 2026. He seems to genuinely love the place.

The one unresolved question is Cheltenham. Mullins has been candid about it: two disappointing runs at the festival have muddied the picture, and after Aintree last year he chose to bypass it again. Whether Salvator Mundi simply doesn't perform there or whether the right opportunity hasn't arrived yet, nobody is quite sure. What is clear is that when the setting suits him — Aintree, Punchestown, top-level competition — he delivers. Recent form of 1-2-1-6-2-2 shows a horse bang in form, and with that Punchestown win still fresh, the conversation about what comes next will be an interesting one.