# Fairyhouse Easter Festival 2026 Results & Winners

_2026 Fairyhouse Easter Festival results: Soldier In Milan's Irish Grand National win, the WillowWarm Gold Cup and the weekend's winners._

*Source: [https://stablebet.co.uk/racing-news/fairyhouse-easter-festival-2026-results/](https://stablebet.co.uk/racing-news/fairyhouse-easter-festival-2026-results/) · last updated 2026-08-19*

## Fairyhouse Easter Festival 2026: the results

The Fairyhouse Easter Festival ran from **Saturday 4 to Monday 6 April 2026** at the County Meath course, closing with the €500,000 Irish Grand National on Easter Monday. This is the completed results hub, covering the festival's graded action and the National itself.

Three days that built towards one race. **Saturday's Style Day** opened the festival with fashion awards and live music ahead of the Sunday and Monday cards. **Easter Sunday** brought two Grade 1s, headed by **Fleur In The Park** (22/1) landing the WillowWarm Gold Cup for Andrew Slattery and Cian Quirke, their first Grade 1 winner. **Easter Monday** closed the festival with the Irish Grand National, where **Soldier In Milan** (6/1 favourite) led from the back straight to win by 16 lengths for trainer Emmet Mullins and jockey Donagh Meyler, giving owner Paul Byrne his first-ever runner in the race.

For the pre-festival picture, see our [Fairyhouse Easter Festival guide](/irish-racecourses/fairyhouse/fairyhouse-easter-festival-guide/) and the evergreen [race times and TV coverage hub](/racing-news/fairyhouse-easter-festival/). If you are opening an account for next year's festival, our [bookmaker offers](/bookmakers/best-free-bet-offers/) page compares verified free bets and Best Odds Guaranteed firms.

> **Responsible gambling:** results are reported for information; nothing here is a tip. If you bet, stake only what you can afford to lose, set deposit limits and never chase. [BeGambleAware.org](https://www.begambleaware.org). 18+.

## Saturday 4 April: Style Day

Saturday opened the 2026 festival as Style Day, built around fashion awards and live music rather than a single feature race. It set the tone for the weekend ahead, with the two Grade 1s and the Irish Grand National still to come.

Our source material for this festival did not carry individually verified card-by-card results for Saturday's racing, so we are not listing them here rather than guess. The graded action from Sunday and Monday is covered in full below.

## Sunday 5 April: Gold Cup & Family Fun Day

Easter Sunday brought the weekend's graded novice action, headlined by the Grade 1 WillowWarm Gold Cup, alongside the Grade 1 Irish Stallion Farms EBF (Honeysuckle) Mares Novice Hurdle and a €100,000 Tattersalls bumper. Free children's entertainment, including an Easter bonnet competition, ran alongside the racing.

The WillowWarm Gold Cup, a Grade 1 novice chase over about 2 miles 4 furlongs, went to **Fleur In The Park** at 22/1, ridden by **Cian Quirke** for trainer **Andrew (Andy) Slattery**. It was the first Grade 1 win for both trainer and jockey.

### WillowWarm Gold Cup result (Fairyhouse, Grade 1, c.2m4f, novice chase)

| Pos | Horse | SP | Jockey | Trainer |
|-----|-------|----|--------|---------|
| 1st | Fleur In The Park | 22/1 | Cian Quirke | Andrew Slattery |

*Result verified against Stablebet's Fairyhouse race-registry dossier, cross-checked with the course's own Easter Festival reporting.*

We were not able to independently confirm the winner of the Mares Novice Hurdle from two sources, so we are not naming a winner here rather than guess.

## Monday 6 April: Irish Grand National Day

Easter Monday closed the festival with the €500,000 Irish Grand National, run over about 3 miles 5 furlongs and 24 fences, off around 5pm in front of a crowd of 18,753, part of a three-day festival total of 34,985.

**Soldier In Milan** (6/1 favourite) led from the back straight after long-time leader Monbeg Genius weakened, winning by 16 lengths for trainer **Emmet Mullins** and jockey **Donagh Meyler**. It was the seven-year-old's fifth start under rules, gave owner Paul Byrne his first-ever runner in the race, and Mullins' first Irish Grand National, having already trained the 2022 Aintree Grand National winner Noble Yeats. **Showurappreciation** (10/1) finished second for jockey Mark Walsh, trainer Jonathan Sweeney and owner JP McManus, with **The Enabler** (28/1) third for Danny Gilligan and Gordon Elliott.

### Irish Grand National result (Fairyhouse, 3m5f, 24 fences, handicap chase)

| Pos | Horse | SP | Jockey | Trainer |
|-----|-------|----|--------|---------|
| 1st | Soldier In Milan | 6/1f | Donagh Meyler | Emmet Mullins |
| 2nd | Showurappreciation | 10/1 | Mark Walsh | Jonathan Sweeney |
| 3rd | The Enabler | 28/1 | Danny Gilligan | Gordon Elliott |

*Result verified against Stablebet's Irish Grand National race-registry dossier, cross-checked with Racing Post's 2026 result reporting.*

For the race's full history and roll of honour, see our [Irish Grand National winners](/irish-racecourses/fairyhouse/irish-grand-national-winners/) page.
