ENERGUMENE (164+), with his sight adjusted to the white markings on the fences, powered to back-to-back victories in the Champion Chase without having to perform anywhere near his achievements on the clock of last season.

However, the nine-year-old still compiled the most impressive data of the day as he combined his eased down time figure with the best final circuit and closing sectional of the day.

Ridden more prominently than in January, Tony Bloom’s gelding was in charge of proceedings as early as halfway down the back straight as he produced a series of towering leaps to exert pressure on his rivals.

Stronger pace

The fleeting glimpse of Nube Negra at the head of affairs suggested the pace was not strong. However, the Champion Chase field were always travelling at a stronger pace than the other two chases on the card.

This is a view which is confirmed by the overall time of the Grade 1 contest being 5.5secs quicker than the Grand Annual Handicap run over the same distance.

Having whittled the opposition down to just Captain Guinness (153) by the home turn, Paul Townend allowed his mount the luxury of coasting home, although the duo were sufficiently quick enough to post a closing sectional of 90.6secs, which was 1.2secs quicker than Maskada and confirmed a final lap time 4.9secs quicker than Henry de Bromhead’s handicap winner.

The challenge to winning a third successive Champion Chase will come from within Closutton itself as the star novice El Fabiolo looks set to be aimed at the two-mile contest next season.

The comparable time figures this year suggest the title holder will have to raise his game considerably to retain his title.

Brown Advisory

In combination, the data from the two-mile races show the performance of The Real Whacker (164) in the Brown Advisory to be above average as, despite his closing sectional of 92.4secs being the slowest of the winners, he ran to the same time figure as the Champion Chase winner when adjusted for distance and covered the final circuit 2.9secs quicker than the Grand Annual winner.

Having set off with such purpose, Patrick Neville’s seven-year-old should be forgiven his relatively slow closing sectional as the close attention of Bron (160) probably forced Sam Twiston-Davies to go quicker than he desired through the formative stages of the race.

However, his superior jumping technique afforded his jockey the opportunity to save energy and ensure there was just enough in reserve to hold the fast-finishing Gerri Colombe.

It was the opposite in terms of jumping for Jordan Gainford as Gerri Colombe (164+) could not match the winner at the fences climbing to the top of the hill, leaving the pair slightly out of their ground.

However, after landing in just third at the final fence jockey Gainford conjured a strong finish from his mount, which in another stride would have yielded victory.

The power packed finish saw the favourite stop the clock at 91.9secs for his closing sectional.

Gerri chances

Looking ahead to graduating into open company, the chances of Gerri Colombe look more obvious than his Brown Advisory conqueror, although he will need to improve significantly to force his way in to the upper echelon of the staying chase ranks.

The Grand Annual will have to be classed as slowly run, although there was no denying Maskada (140+) was an impressive winner, especially when considering she stormed up the rail, shunned by the other chase winners on the day.

Of those who finished in behind Third Time Lucki (128+) (would have preferred better ground) and Final Orders (124+) (put off by the water jump) are worth another chance.

Finishing sectional set Impaire apart

THE Wednesday opened with a Willie Mullins clean sweep in the Ballymore Hurdle as Impaire Et Passe (156+) proved vastly superior to his stable companions to record a solid, although not quite spectacular time, albeit with plenty in hand.

Admittedly, the overall race time was 3.0secs quicker than the Coral Cup won by Langer Dan (143), a difference also reflected in the final circuit time which alludes to the formative stages of the contest being steadily run.

Especially when considering the even slower run bumper trailed the handicappers by just 1.1secs through the final circuit when adjusting for the hurdles.

However, what cannot be denied was the swift finishing effort which the Ballymore winner produced when asked to lengthen by Paul Townend who spied the gap between the rail and Champ Kiely a long time before he seized the moment.

The resulting burst to the line saw the Munir and Souede-owned gelding post a closing sectional of 93.0secs.

In comparison, Langer Dan covered the same ground in 95.6secs, which was eclipsed by both Gaelic Warrior (149+) and Champ Kiely (147) who recorded 94.4secs and 95.2secs in chasing home Impaire Et Passe in the opener on day two.

Champion Bumper

The slowly-run Champion Bumper should have played to the strengths of those ridden prominently as the leaders reached the wings of the fourth last hurdle at least 2.2secs (eleven lengths) slower than the hurdle races when analysing the final circuit.

Therefore, the winner and second deserve an upgrade as they closed from the rear of the field to contest the finish.

A Dream To Share (118+) produced a finishing effort of 94.5secs to land the spoils on the day and confirm his superiority over Fact To File (117+) as the Dublin Racing Festival bumper proved to be the standout piece of form.

Lecky Watson (111+) proved best of the strong Christmas Bumper as he just held the late thrust of It’s For Me (111+), who was last headed out on the final circuit and can be upgraded. Captain Teague (116), who raced prominently, was the only British runner to finish in the first 11 but looks a smart prospect for next season.