The Queen Mother Champion Chase proved to be a rout for Energumene, as he never came off the bridle to win the race by 10 lengths at the Cheltenham Festival today (15 March).
“He was foot-perfect everywhere – he got into a rhythm and jumped brilliantly,” said his jockey Paul Townend. “I let go of him up the straight and was able to take it all in from the back of the last. All credit to Imran who rides and looks after him every day.”
The nine-year-old, who is trained by Willie Mullins and owned by Tony Bloom, travelled and jumped well to win the race for a second year in a row.
“He was spot on today and we got the ground,” said Willie, whose stable is retaining its reputation as a force to be reckoned with this week.
“We were confident going into this race and he has run tremendously – the rain gave us extra confidence,” said Tony.
Edwardstone, who has shown plenty of promise in the past and went off second favourite today, proved disappointing.
“He normally warms up into the race well, but that didn’t happen today,” said Edwardstone’s jockey, Tom Cannon.
Captain Guinness ran a brilliant race at odds of 10/1 to finish second…
