Energumene makes stylish return to winning ways in Cork
With And Trainer Townend Willie Paul Both Energumene Afterwards Richie Deegan Pany Ok Parting Win And Banbridge For Mullins
A day after Jonbon strutted his stuff at Sandown, Energumene proved his considerable ability remains very much intact with a successful return from 20 months on the sidelines in the Bar One Racing Hilly Way Chase at Cork.
The Willie Mullins-trained 10-year-old claimed this Grade Two prize in both 2021 and 2022, kicking off campaigns which both featured victory in the Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham.
He missed the entirety of last season through injury, though, meaning his returned to Cork marked his first competitive outing since winning at the Punchestown Festival in the spring of 2023.
Despite his lengthy absence, Energumene was a 5-4 favourite to make it a Hilly Way hat-trick under Paul Townend and he jumped accurately on front end throughout.
The race-fit Banbridge was the only one able to go with him in the straight, but he just looked to be coming off second-best when unseating Richie Deegan at the final fence.
His exit left Energumene clear of the remainder and he passed the post with 10 lengths in hand over stablemate Dinoblue, with Appreciate It and Blue Lord rounding off a Mullins one-two-three-four.
"That was a very exuberant display from him," Mullins said.
"I thought Dinoblue would make more of the running, but Paul said his horse was just looking for fences to jump and wanted to go a better gallop, so he let him on instead of fighting him.
"I was very happy with how he jumped and he had been doing everything right since her came back in August. Hopefully he can keep going that way and it was a nice performance to build on for the season."
Coral cut Energumene's odds to land a third Champion Chase to 5-1 from 8-1, with Nicky Henderson's dual Tingle Creek hero Jonbon their 5-2 favourite and another Mullins inmate, Gaelic Warrior, splitting the pair at 100-30.
Energumene memorably came off second-best in a titanic clash with Shishkin in the Clarence House Chase at Ascot in January 2022 and whether he will head back to Berkshire for a possible clash with Shishkin's stablemate Jonbon next month remains to be seen.
"He didn't look like he needed the run, galloped the whole way to the line and had looked excellent since he came in," the champion trainer added.
"Normally we skip Christmas (with his Hilly Way Chase winners) and the Clarence House Chase was what we did previously, so we'll see how he comes out of it before making any decision."
Mullins also had good news on the talented but fragile Ferny Hollow, who was in the process of running a decent race on his return to action before falling in the home straight.
He said: "I'm told Ferny Hollow is fine and the news back is that he is good and came home and I was very happy with how most of the rest ran.
"It was nice to get them out and started for the season so we'll try to find opportunities for them."