Energumene produced a dramatic late burst to deny old favourite Chacun Pour Soi a famous victory in the William Hill Champion Chase at the Punchestown Festival.
Trainer Willie Mullins, who looks set to dominate the end-of-season meeting in Ireland, sent out four of the five-runner field for the Grade One contest, with Cheltenham hero Energumene expected to make light work of his rivals as 2/7 favourite.
Things were clearly not quite going to plan for jockey Paul Townend, with Energumene surviving a number of errors at his fences.
Long-time leader Magic Daze, the only non-Mullins representative in the field, gave way turning in, leaving the Closutton quartet – completed by Blue Lord (third) and Gentleman De Mee (fourth) – to battle it out.
Chacun Pour Soi, the veteran in the field at 11-years-old and winless since February 2022, battled on bravely under Danny Mullins and looked all set to punish a sluggish leap from Energumene at the final fence.
But, Energumene dug deep into his reserves and found enough to beat his valiant stablemate by three-quarters of a length.
Paul Townend holds aloft the Punchestown Champion Chase trophy
Townend said: “He gave a few fences a fair belt, which is uncharacteristic of him really, but he showed how good of a horse he is by winning today because we know how good Chacun can be on home soil.
“He [Chacun Pour Soi] is a favourite of mine so when he got a better jump than me at the last, I thought: ‘At least I’m getting beat by one of my favourites’. It was brilliant to see him bounce back to his best.”
