William Hill Champion Chase |
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| Grade 1, Punchestown 17:25 €275,000 guaranteed, 5yo plus, 2m, Class 1  |
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1 Energumene 4/7F
2 Chacun Pour Soi 5/2
3
Envoi Allen 11/1
5 ran Distances: 8½l, 6l, 11l
Time: 4m 8.20s (slow by 10.20s)
Energumene gets the better of the classy Chacun Pour Soi in the William Hill Champion Chase for @WillieMullinsNH and @PTownend @Punchestown pic.twitter.com/Pe4hf7ao9b https://t.co/dQf5O4R7D1 via @RacingBetter
— RacingBetter (@RacingBetter) April 27, 2022
Having provided Willie Mullins with his first success in the two-mile chasing championship in the Cotswolds last month, Energumene was the favourite to follow up under Paul Townend.
Chacun Pour Soi, so impressive when beating another Mullins ace in Allaho in this race 12 months ago, unseated Patrick Mullins at Cheltenham, but was the clear threat to his stable companion.
On paper it looked match between the Closutton duo and so it proved as they upped the ante racing down the back straight to pull clear of Henry de Bromhead’s pair of Envoi Allen and Captain Guinness.
There was little to choose between Energumene and Chacun Pour Soi heading to the third fence from home, but Energumene jumped it the better and it was obvious on landing he had more in the tank.
To his credit, Chacun Pour Soi did his level best to get back into it and was back upsides jumping the second-last, but Energumene asserted soon after and had eight and a half lengths in hand at the line.
Mullins said: “Patrick was setting it up in front and Energumene loved it, he was just jumping up beside Chacun Pour Soi. On this ground that was a tremendous performance.
“The ground would have suited most of the other horses in the race. I wasn’t sure whether it would suit Energumene, but he went on it today anyhow.
“Chacun Pour Soi has had a great career and hopefully he’ll win more races, but I think we’ve seen the new champion here today. We’ll plan next year with both horses and probably go down different paths.
“I thought Chacun had his chance landing over the second last and I thought ‘the race is on here’, but Energumene just found so much in the tank.
“On this ground, to me, that was as good, if not better, than he ever did before.”
Energumene’s only defeat over obstacles came at the hands of Shishkin in a barnstorming clash at Ascot in January. Shishkin subsequently failed to fire for the much anticipated rematch at Cheltenham.
“He just seems to be improving with racing and he’s learning all the time,” Mullins added.
“We learned an awful lot from Ascot, we learned more about how to ride him and have more confidence in him. That’s the way Paul has been doing it now and it’s worked twice since.
“He’s by the same sire as Un De Sceaux and looked like he might be a similar sort, but he has a lot more speed than we gave him credit for.
“The fact that he was able to come off a pace like that shows the speed, he was still able to gallop away from them and show speed going down to the last fence.
“It tells me that he’s improving all the time.”
William Hill Champion Chase
€275,000 guaranteed, 5yo plus, 2m, Class 1
5 ran
Going: Good to Yielding, Yielding in places
POS. DIST HORSE AGE WGT TRAINER JOCKEY SP
1 Energumene 8 11-12 W P Mullins Paul Townend 4/7F
2 8½ Chacun Pour Soi 10 11-12 W P Mullins Mr P W Mullins 5/2
3 6 Envoi Allen 8 11-12 Henry De Bromhead Rachael Blackmore 11/1
4 11 Captain Guinness 7 11-12 Henry De Bromhead Davy Russell 28/1
FELL Andy Dufresne 8 11-12 Gordon Elliott Mark Walsh 16/1
Past Results:
| Year | Horse | Age/Wt/Owner | Trainer | Jockey |
| 2021 | Chacun Pour Soi 6/5F | 9-12-00 E O'Connell |
Willie Mullins | Paul Townend |
| 2020 | Abandoned (Covid-19) |
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| 2019 | Un De Sceaux 11/4 | 11-11-12 E O'Connell |
Willie Mullins | Paul Townend |
| 2018 | Un De Sceaux 9/2 | 10-11-12 E O'Connell |
Willie Mullins | Mr P W Mullins |
| 2017 | Fox Norton 5/2 | 7-11-12 Ann & Alan Potts Limited |
C L Tizzard | R M Power |
| 2016 | God's Own 9/1 | 8-11-12 Crossed Fingers P’ship |
T R George | P J Brennan |
| 2015 | Felix Yonger 5/1 | 9-11-12 Andrea & Graham Wylie |
Willie Mullins | Danny Mullins |
| 2014 | Sizing Europe 7/1 | 12-11-12 Ann & Alan Potts P’ship |
Henry de Bromhead | Andrew Lynch |
| 2013 | Sprinter Sacre 1/9 Fav |
7-11-12 Mrs Caroline Mould |
Nicky Henderson GB | Barry Geraghty |
| 2012 | Sizing Europe 8/13 Fav |
10-11-12 Ann & Alan Potts P’ship |
Henry de Bromhead | Andrew Lynch |
| 2011 | Big Zeb 9/4 |
10-11-12 Pat Redmond |
Colm Murphy | Barry Geraghty |
| 2010 | Golden Silver 12/1 |
8-11-12 Violet O’Leary |
Willie Mullins | Paul Townend |
| 2009 | Master Minded 30/100 Fav | 6-11-12 Clive Smith |
Paul Nicholls GB | Ruby Walsh |
| 2008 | Twist Magic 6/4 Fav |
6-11-12 Barry Fulton, Tony Hayward, Michael Lynch |
Paul Nicholls GB | Ruby Walsh |
| 2007 | Mansony 13/2 | 8-11-12 Michael Mulholland |
Arthur Moore | Davy Russell |
| 2006 | Newmill 5/4 Fav | 8-11-12 Mary Hayes |
John Murphy | Andrew McNamara |
| 2005 | Rathgar Beau 8/1 | 9-11-12 One-O-Eight Racing Club |
Eamon Sheehy | Shay Barry |
| 2004 | Moscow Flyer 4/11 Fav | 10-11-12 Brian Kearney |
Jessica Harrington | Barry Geraghty |
| 2003 | Flagship Uberalles 8/1 | 9-12-00 J P McManus |
Philip Hobbs GB | Richard Johnson |
| 2002 | Strong Run 4/1 | 9-12-00 Michael McGrath |
Noel Meade | Paul Carberry |
| *2001 | Micko’s Dream 5/1 | 9-12-00 Sport Racing Club |
Willie Mullins | Ruby Walsh |
| 2000 | Get Real 3/1 | 9-11-06 Pioneer Heat-Treatment |
Nicky Henderson GB | Mick Fitzgerald |
| 1999 | Celibate 7/1 | 8-11-09 Stamford Bridge P’ship |
Charlie Mann GB | Richard Dunwoody |
| 1998 | Big Matt 16/1 | 10-10-11 Ted Benfield & Bill Brown |
Nicky Henderson GB | Mick Fitzgerald |
| 1997 | Klairon Davis 11/10 Fav | 8-12-00 Chris Jones |
Arthur Moore | Francis Woods |
| 1996 | Klairon Davis 5/2 | 7-12-00 Chris Jones |
Arthur Moore | Francis Woods |
| 1995 | Strong Platinum 3/1 Fav | 7-11-01 Theresa McCoubrey |
Paddy Burke | Conor O’Dwyer |
| 1994 | Saraemma 16/1 | 8-10-12 Dermot Cox |
Homer Scott | Kevin O’Brien |
| 1993 | Viking Flagship 5/4 Fav | 6-10-07 Roach Foods Ltd |
David Nicholson GB | Richard Dunwoody |
| 1992 | The Musical Priest 8/1 | 10-10-07 Mrs Seamus Purcell |
Michael Purcell | Jason Titley |
| 1991 | Good For A Laugh 8/1 | 7-9-11 Dr Michael Smurfit |
Arthur Moore | Charlie Swan |
| 1990 | Rust Never Sleeps 14/1 | 6-10-06 D M Murphy |
Austin Leahy | Gerry O’Neill |
| 1989 | Super Furrow 12/1 | 9-12-00 Mrs M Marshall |
Jerry O’Neill | Padge Gill |
| 1988 | Flying Ferret 8/1 | 7-9-07 Mrs V O’Leary |
Tony Redmond | Brendan Powell |
| 1987 | Eddie Wee 11/2 Jt Fav | 11-10-12 Mrs Y Rock |
Billy Rock | Conor O’Dwyer |
| 1986 | Another Brownie 6/1 | 7-9-07 S Lucey |
M McGrath | J P Byrne |
| 1985 | Buck House 11/10 Fav | 7-11-07 Mrs S Purcell |
Mouse Morris | Tommy Carmody |
| 1984 | Travelowen 6/4 Fav | 7-12-00 Mrs M Kelly |
Tom Costello | Mr Tom Costello |
| 1983 | Turloughmore Lad 7/1 | 8-9-07 M McDonagh |
Paddy Norris | Paul Leech |
| 1982 | Light The Wad 3/1 | 9-11-03 Exors of Patrick Downey |
Dessie Hughes | Tom Morgan |
| 1981 | Light The Wad 6/1 | 8-10-10 Patrick Downey |
Dessie Hughes | Frank Leavy |
| 1980 | Paddy Bouler 7/4 Fav | 7-11-04 P Rooney |
Pat Rooney | S Lynch |
