The 2022 Cheltenham Festival is fast approaching, and this year’s Champion Chase looks set to be one of the best ever. The Willie Mullins-trained Chacun Pour Soi will be attempting to make up for last year’s poor performance, but even more interesting is the battle between Shishkin and Energumene, trained by Nicky Henderson and Mullins respectively. The former came out on top in a thrilling exchange between the pair in the Clarence House Chase at Ascot in January, and now they look set to do battle once again in the Queen Mother Champion Chase.
Henderson and Mullins have had plenty of clashes over the years, but this one promises to be hugely intriguing due to the fact that Henderson is chasing a record seventh Champion Chase victory, whilst Mullins has remarkably never won the race over the course of his glittering career. The fact that the top three contenders in the best Cheltenham bets belong to their stables makes this a mouth-watering clash of two of racing’s heavyweights.
Henderson and Mullins’ respective records in the Champion Chase provide an interesting contrast, especially when you consider that Mullins is the most successful trainer in the history of the Cheltenham Festival overall. With 78 winners to his name at Prestbury Park, it’s hard to believe that he has never managed to land the Champion Chase title. He has won all the other championship races at least twice, but the day two showpiece has eluded him thus far.
Henderson, on the other hand, is a man who knows what it takes to get the job done in the two-miler. His first taste of Champion Chase glory came all the way back in 1992, when Remittance Man ruled the roost. Henderson would have to wait another 20 years to win the day two feature once again, but they proved to be like London buses with two coming along in a row, Finian’s Rainbow and Sprinter Sacre winning in 2012 and 2013 respectively. Three more victories have followed since, with Sprinter Sacre again in 2016 and then the two successive triumphs for Altior in 2018 and 2019.
Indeed, Henderson has made the race his own over the last decade or so, and it’s for that reason that Mullins has struggled to land a win in the event. He had his best chance yet last year, as Chacun Pour Soi lined up with many thinking he was a certainty to break Mullins’ duck. However, the bookies’ favourite faded at the last to allow Put The Kettle On to steal the win.
That was a tough loss for Mullins to take, but he’ll feel confident things can be put right this year. Chacun Pour Soi is a dangerous contender as always, but the Irish trainer has something of a wildcard in the form of Energumene, who is beginning to prove he has the attributes needed to be a world class chaser.
Both horses will have their work cut out to stop Shishkin, who looks as strong as ever, and you can bet that the racing community will be watching with bated breath on day two of this year’s Cheltenham Festival. Will Henderson make history by landing a seventh crown and maintain his stranglehold on the Champion Chase, or can Mullins buck the trend and finally get off the mark in an event that, as of yet, he just hasn’t been able to crack?