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Tony Mullins’ 'horse of a lifetime’, Princess Zoe, has been retired aged seven following her latest French conquest, writes Milly McEvoy.

The much-loved grey finished fourth in Sunday’s Prix Royal-Oak at Longchamp, the scene of her crowning achievement in 2020 when she came from nowhere to land the Qatar Prix du Cadran.

The victory marked the end of five consecutive wins as Princess Zoe ended her career with eight wins from 34 starts. 

The start to of her career gave no hints of what was to come – winning only two minor races in 15 starts in Germany. 

Her move to Ireland, having been bought on behalf of Paddy Kehoe and Philomena Crampton, turned her fortunes around and she won her first race in almost two years when she took victory in the Kildare Village Ladies Derby Handicap at the Curragh. 

Mullins later admitted that he would not have bought the mare if he made the trip to Germany to see her as she arrived in Kilkenny with ‘crooked legs’. 

Soon enough, though, Princess Zoe caught the racing world’s attention with victory in the Connacht Hotel Handicap at Galway.

Being ridden by amateur Finian Maguire and up against five runners trained by Mullins’ brother Willie, she won by one and a quarter lengths. 

Two more wins came at Galway before the triumph at Longchamp, where Princess Zoe was second favourite behind the previous year’s winner Call the Wind. 

Jockey Joey Sheridan bid his time in the mid-pack before taking the lead in the closing stages to earn the victory by half a length. 

In 2021, Princess Zoe finished second in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot before claiming a win in the Gold Cup Trial race, the Group 3 Longines Sagaro Stakes at Ascot, in April of this year. 

Following the weekend’s Longchamp farewell, Mullins took to Twitter to announce the decision and wrote: “It’s with both relief and disappointment that we have decided to retire Princess Zoe.” 

Plenty responded with well wishes also praising the mare’s toughness, while broadcaster Matt Chapman recognised Mullins’ ability to turn Princess Zoe into a champion.

Chapman said: “Terrific horse and showing there is not only one Mullins who can get the job done when given the ammunition.” 

It was a sentiment echoed by Sheridan, who said after their victory at Ascot this year: “She’s a distinctive character, she is full of herself and if she was in any other yard bar Tony’s I don’t think she would be as good as she is. 

“Because he fills her up with confidence and he knows her inside out, he knows what he can and can’t do with her...there’s so many different things behind the scenes that if people could see how good Tony is to get the best out of her.”