Energumene makes return with victory in Hilly Way

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.

Energumene gives Willie Mullins a 16th victory in the Hilly Way Chase.

A fall for Banbridge at the final fence ended the race as a contest. pic.twitter.com/7GAM4l0cHB

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."

Ener