ENERGUMENE - the name in French means zealot or fanatic and suggests one of suspect temperament - but the stunning nine-year-old is one you’d cross an ocean to see, not cross the street to avoid.

He fulfilled the long-held desire of Willie Mullins to train a Queen Mother Champion Chase winner when ploughing through rain-sodden ground to land Wednesday’s feature at the Cheltenham Festival last March.

Shishkin vs Energumene in the 2022 Clarence House Chase lived up to its ‘clash of the season’ billing in an epic encounter at Ascot when Shishkin found overdrive after the last to overhaul his nemesis in a race which brought back memories of Desert Orchid’s last-gasp win over the supremely game Panto Prince in the first running of that race, then the Victor Chandler Handicap Chase.

A rematch at the Festival promised fireworks but delivered a damp squib, with Nicky Henderson’s previously unbeaten jumper in trouble and pulled up early, while Chacun Pour Soi – his only other serious rival according to the betting - crashed out when leading four from home. That left Energumene to gain a rather hollow victory over 40/1 shot Funambule Sivola.

He is a deserving champion, but he blemished his record at Cheltenham in January when only third behind Editeur Du Gite and Edwardstone in the rescheduled Clarence House Chase. Willie Mullins put forward a theory that Energumene was put off by the white take-off boards which he wouldn’t have seen before and, while there may be merit in that explanation, he will need to perform better to turn the tables with Edwardstone and retain his crown in March.

It’s unlikely that the run was needed in the Clarence House, and the fact that Star Sports, the Brighton-based firm with which Energumene’s owner Tony Bloom is often linked, reported taking bets of £350,000 and £375,000 on the horse strongly suggests that Bloom had his betting boots on, something he doesn’t do without crossing all the ‘T’s and dotting the corresponding ‘I’s. That means that the required improvement will come from a change of tactics or improved jumping, with the pair quite likely linked.

With Shishkin beaten on his return and not even entered in the Champion, and Chacun Pour Soi seemingly on the wane, Energumene will likely face an entirely different set of rivals as he bids to follow up last year’s Champion Chase success, but which of them will prove his biggest stumbling block? The obvious answer is 2022 Arkle winner Edwardstone.

New challenger

Last year’s Arkle Chase winner has gone the right way, winning the Tingle Creek with authority before losing his rider at an early stage of his Christmas assignment with an uncharacteristic error. He went some way towards regaining his reputation by chasing down Editeur Du Gite in the Clarence House, only to falter in the dying strides and lose out by a head.

It all suggests that Energumene will have to hit new heights on March 15th if he is to edge towards the legendary status of such horses as Moscow Flyer, Jessie Harrington’s brilliant and charismatic dual winner.

There is much to be discussed in terms of how good Energumene is in comparison with previous Irish-trained winners of the Champion Chase, and appreciation is enhanced by an understanding of history.

Perhaps it’s best, then, to look at the provenance and breeding of Energumene before putting his form credentials under the spotlight.

If you knew the racing landscape, but had heard nothing of Energumene’s background, you’d not be at all surprised to learn that he was the impressive winner of a four-year-old point before joining Willie Mullins privately, but you might be surprised to learn that his win between the flags came at the English venue of Larkhill and that his win and subsequent sale was all part of a plan hatched by Herefordshire based trainer Tom Lacey, in whose colours he was successful in that Larkhill contest.

My colleague Ash Symonds caught up with Tom and asked how he came to buy, and then sell Energumene.

“I bought him as a thee-year-old for €50,000 from Peter Vaughan, who in turn picked him up from breeder Christophe Dubourg,” said Tom. “He had a very good conformation excluding one foot that was slightly smaller than the other, he had plenty of bone, and was a good athletic model.

“He had absolutely no pedigree, the pedigree didn’t reflect the individual at all, but for that particular job at the time, he did tick all the boxes.

“He proved very straightforward. Everything came easy to him – some horses can be wary of stuff or nervous or bloody-minded, but he was none of that. He just behaved like a good horse does because good horses generally have very, very good minds.

“We thought we had a very good horse going into his point-to-point. What was more striking than anything else in his point-to-point win was just how long it took to pull him up.

“Beyond the winning post at Larkhill there are some bushes two-and-a-half furlongs away, and [Tommie O’Brien] couldn’t pull him up until he had gone past the bushes. He gave me a big injection of cash when we sold him – it was always the idea to sell him and although he won a point-to-point impressively, many winners simply don’t go on?

“There’s no guarantee with that and it was time to let someone else take the risk. He looks very cheaply bought when you look what those horses are fetching at the sales going on in Cheltenham now.

“I had him today, he would have made double what we got for him. but that doesn’t matter because we had him the day we had him and we sold him the day we sold him.”

Enter Tony Bloom. He is often viewed as a rather mysterious figure, as he doesn’t fit the profile of the typical wealthy owner. Having worked for the Brighton & Hove Albion owner for some years, I feel I can fill in some gaps. Most who have made their fortunes from gambling walk a tightrope which often sees them losing those fortunes, but I’ve never met a man with Tony Bloom’s mentality. Many gamblers thrive on the thrill of betting, but the need to feel that thrill can be their downfall. There is no emotion in Bloom’s punting, and his grasp of the mathematics of betting is second to none. He knows what advice to heed and what noise to ignore, and his success in sports betting – particularly in the Asian markets – has been phenomenal.

Generous to friends and family, he doesn’t flash his cash for ostentation, but allows others to bask in his glory. In Willie Mullins, he seems to have met a kindred spirit. ?

Phil Turner

Timeform Senior Horseracing Analyst

“Sprinter Sacre was the best horse I’ve seen – his defeat of Sizing Europe had a lot more substance than most of the other wide-margin Champion Chase wins.

Master Minded’s first win was arguably the most breath-taking, even if subsequent events suggest it might not have been quite so good as it looked at time. I’ve no doubt that the quality of horses in the two-mile division has improved in recent times as top-class horses are more likely to be sent chasing after just one season hurdling.

In days gone by, a potential superstar would often be given a crack at the Champion Hurdle before switching to fences, but those horses are being fast-tracked now and the division is getting stronger as a result.”

In the Chasers & Hurdlers era [Timeform’s jumps annuals started in 1975/76], I’d nominate Sprinter Sacre (192), Moscow Flyer (184) and Altior (180) as the best three.

We rate Energumene 180 currently, and the question is whether he can be pushed to a higher rating by beating a chaser of similar merit, and where that opposition might come from.

“Blue Lord surprised me with how well he won at Leopardstown, and while that stands out on his CV, he was always top of the pecking order amongst the Mullins novices last term, and that effort is backed up by the clock, which is an important part of our analysis.

“When Shishkin was relegated to the wilderness after the Tingle Creek, I thought there might not be much competition for Energumene, but he might have something to push him to a new level from his own yard.

Sandy Shaw IHRB Senior National Hunt Handicapper

“We rated Energumene 176 at the end of last season. That’s the same as Shishkin and we felt that it would be unfair on Shishkin to rate him lower given he beat Energumene at Ascot.

The Champion Chase should have given us a clear answer, so it’s a shame what happened there. Energumene then beat Chacun Pour Soi (also rated 176 at the time) at Punchestown in April and could be rated higher on that, but the latter is probably not as good as he was and the fact that Envoi Allen finished much the same distance behind Energumene as he did at Cheltenham suggested that he didn’t improve on the 176.

“Ratings, I would say, are a starting point, rather than an absolute measure and it’s often hard to rate top-class horses in uncompetitive races.

Conditions races can be like a lap of honour for the best horses, as when Energumene won the Hilly Way at Cork. His rating was unchanged because he did what was expected of him, but he might well be better than that.

I feel that the top-notch horses are always underrated, and they tend to prove that when running in handicaps, although it rarely happens these days.

A good example of where ratings don’t tell the full story is this: in the 2021/22 Anglo-Irish ratings, both Fakir D’Oudairies and Royal Rendezvous are rated 165. The former is a consistent performer who won two Grade 1s but was twice no match for Allaho last term, and the balance of his form says his mark is spot on.

Royal Rendezvous won the Galway Plate and went on to win a Grade A handicap at Punchestown off a mark of 160. It’s hard to argue that his final rating was incorrect, but when they met in the Clonmel Oil Chase, Fakir D’Oudairies gave Royal Rendezvous 2lb and a 15-length beating.

Few would argue that result isn’t a fair reflection of their merits, and this illustrates how Grade 1 form is probably undervalued in the grand scheme.

This year Greaneteen returned to win the Haldon Gold Cup (a handicap) and went up 3lb to 171 for doing so. He then went to the Tingle Creek and was beaten nine lengths by Edwardstone (rated 161 at the time and 170 after his win).

If you took Greaneteen’s handicap form as being correct, then Edwardstone would look to have run to a mark nearer 180 and if you looked at the result ignoring Edwardstone’s participation, then it would appear that Greaneteen ran right up to his mark of 171 on the day.

How can Energumene rate higher? Well, he needs to be beating horses of similar merit and that will only happen in Grade 1 contests because there’s little chance of seeing him in a handicap.

The Champion Chase could again be the key race in determining his true merit, but with Chacun Pour Soi getting older and Shishkin out of the picture, we’re relying on Edwardstone or perhaps Blue Lord to push him into a bigger performance.”

This article is taken from The Irish Field Cheltenham Magazine 2023. CLICK HERE TO ORDER YOUR COPY