AN unexpected consequence of a quite brilliant Dublin Racing Festival was such a glut of outstanding performances that I, for one, do not know where to start in reviewing it. Will no-one think of the poor journalists?!
It could have been with Honeysuckle’s Grade 1 Irish Champion Hurdle on Saturday, with Kemboy’s Grade 1 Irish Gold Cup on Sunday, or with any of a number of superb novice performances. But I am opting for Chacun Pour Soi’s Grade 1 Ladbrokes Dublin Chase win, viewed in conjunction with Energumene’s Grade 1 Irish Arkle win at the same distance, on day one.
Chacun Pour Soi has seldom failed to run a top-class time since the day in 2019 when he won his maiden chase at Naas by 31 lengths, but he arguably surpassed even his previous achievements in this year’s Dublin Chase and now sits atop my time-based ratings on 177.
His overall time for the extended 17 furlongs on what I made “soft” going was 4m 22.5s, and he was never more impressive than when sweeping past Fakir d’Oudairies (166) and Notebook (156 here, 165 previously) going to the last.
Chacun Pour Soi’s winning margin of eight lengths could clearly have been increased.
Whatever you rate Chacun Pour Soi on time, Energumene should not be all that far behind. Various versions exist of what the respective times should be (it would be nice to have this standardised), but I made Energumene just 0.8s slower than Chacun Pour Soi, or about four lengths.
They were respectively 2.7s and 1.9s quicker than 138-rated handicap winner A Wave Of The Sea, who carried 23lb less.
Chacun Pour Soi and Energumene got from A to B in roughly similar manner, also, and in broadly efficient style, with Chacun Pour Soi’s finishing speed from three out 100.6% and Energumene’s a bang-on-par 100.0%. Further, it could be argued that Energumene appeared to have even more in the locker.
Outstanding performance
Whatever the subtler nuances of the two winning performances, Energumene can be considered to have put up an outstanding performance for a novice, worth 168 on my figures (10-length runner-up Franco De Port on 154 and third-placed Blackbow on 153).
In a normal year, that would be more than good enough to win an Arkle or Marsh Chase at the Cheltenham Festival, but this is no normal year, at least where the former race is concerned. Shishkin ran much faster than championship-standard two-mile chasers at Kempton over Christmas and is even higher, on 169.
Energumene has raced only on soft or heavy over jumps, and would have no problem in going back up to 20 furlongs, whereas Shishkin may have a bit more speed. Conditions at Cheltenham will be crucial, for what promises to be a fascinating showdown.
Chacun Pour Soi, meanwhile, looks easily best for the Queen Mother Champion Chase with Altior’s star apparently waning, though I remember thinking the same this time last year and he failed to make the Festival.