"If I never win it again I don't care, it's just fantastic to have won it today," Comdt Gerry Flynn said after sweeping to victory in the €125,000 Longines Grand Prix in front of an adoring crowd that included Sex And The City star Kim Cattrall at the RDS yesterday afternoon.
Flynn was the picture of an officer and a gentleman as he held the salute for the National Anthem, his lovely mare Mo Chroí dancing underneath him. But with the final note fading, Longford-born Flynn punched the air and even lifted the massive silver trophy above his head as the crowd howled its delight.
And Army formalities went totally by the board on the victory gallop as Flynn, sporting a wraparound grin that could be seen on the far side of the arena, waved frenetically to a crowd celebrating a first Irish Grand Prix in Dublin since Cameron Hanley's triumph seven years ago.
It was even further back in the record books since a McKee Barracks protege had headed the line-up - 21 years in fact, since Capt Gerry Mullins and the great Rockbarton claimed the honours.
But the Army team is back, and back with a vengeance after winning the Grand Prix and providing a half of the horsepower for Friday's Aga Khan team with Mo Chroí and Captain Shane Carey's ride River Foyle.
"I've been sitting on the sidelines since 1999, but you can't do it without a good horse," Flynn said last night, still basking in a moment of glory he was more than willing to share.
"But this isn't just about me and a fantastic mare, this is a team effort," he said, going on to thank the backroom team at McKee, his groom Private Linda Treacy and his wife Trish. "Without them none of this could happen."
Flynn had been joined by three of his compatriots in the nine-horse jump-off and, second in against the clock, the Army man set an eminently beatable target but one that did just enough to psyche out the opposition.
Clear in 55.93 seconds, Flynn had to sit and wait as one by one his rivals fell by the wayside.
"I knew I'd done enough to put the others under pressure," he said afterwards.
Dutchman Ben Schroder came closest, just over a second slower on the clock to take the runner-up slot ahead of Dublin first-timer Jane Richard, flying the flag for Switzerland and, as a Longines ambassador, flying the flag for the sponsors too.
Flynn wears the ambassadorial mantle easily as well. An ambassador for Ireland, for the Irish Army and for Irish sport. He's a three-time all-Army and former Leinster juvenile boxing champion, as well as a county footballer and hurler. And now he's the people's champion, winner of the Dublin Grand Prix.
And Flynn is something of an ambassador for the Irish horse too, showcasing the best of Irish breeding on the world stage.
He clearly adores Mo Chroí, which has been on three winning Nations Cup teams this season, completing the double in Drammen, Norway, when winning the Grand Prix as well.
"She's feisty, determined, brave and totally, totally honest, but she can't be dominated," he said.
Flynn's win marked only the second time the Tricolour flag was hoisted at the Fáilte Ireland Dublin Horse Show, but it was the one that mattered. And the sun even smiled down on the occasion.