The Willie Mullins-trained inmate will contest the day’s featured €100,000 Bar One Racing Hilly Way Chase.

This will be Energumene’s first race for 593-days, not having been seen since his win in the Grade 1 William Hill Champion Chase at the Punchestown Festival in 2023.

The French-bred son of Denham Road bids to claim a third victory in the Grade 2 Bar One Racing Hilly Way Chase, following previous triumphs in the race in 2021 and 2022.

This year’s renewal of the race will boast the largest field since 2018, with eight runners set to participate, with six of them coming from Mullins’ powerful Closutton stable.

Mullins hoping to extend record

Energumene will be reunited with Cork jockey Paul Townend as he aims to extend Mullins’ incredible record in the race, having trained the winner of the Hilly Way Chase every year since 2007, with the exception of 2012 and 2018.

Among the other Mullins representatives will be Hunters Yarn and four other Grade 1 winners Dinoblue, Ferny Hollow, Appreciate It, and Blue Lord.

Patrick Mullins, Ireland’s champion amateur jockey, will ride Ferny Hollow; Mark Walsh will be aboard Dinoblue; Danny Mullins will partner Appreciate It, and Brian Hayes will take the mount on Hunters Yarn.

Despite his historic dominance in the race, and the strength of his participants for this season’s contest, Team Mullins will face a strong challenge from both the Joseph O’Brien and John Queally yards.

O’Brien’s Carriganóg team will be represented by Grade 1 William Hill Champion Chase winner at last season’s Punchestown Festival, Banbridge.

Queally will have the recent Cork winner The Banger Doyle in the field.

Con O’Keeffe aims for another Mares’ Novice Chase win

The Grade 2 Coolmore NH Sires Order Of St George Irish EBF Mares Novice Chase at Cork Racecourse on Sunday has attracted a field of eight runners.

Last season’s successful handler with Silent Approach at 33/1, Con O’Keeffe, will be represented this time around by Kilbarry Saint.

Zenta, third in the race last year, will again contest the Grade 2 event, and will be joined by sable companion Karia Des Blaises.

The 2023 winning rider Danny Mullins will partner A Law Of Her Own from the Peter Fahey yard, while Henry de Bromhead will be represented by Nara.

This race has been won by mares of the calibre of Shattered Love (2017) and Vroom Vroom Mag (2014) in the past.

Six runners contest Grade 3 Stayers Novice Hurdle

The Grade 3 Singletons Supervalu Stayers Novice Hurdle, which has been won by eight different trainers in the past eight years, will have six runners on Sunday.

Ther Gordon Elliott-trained Minella Sixo may be the headline act, but Willie Mullins will be double-handed with Luckinthecity and Just For Love.

Cork-based trainers make up the remainder of the field: Jonathan Sweeney’s Churchroad Prince; recent 40/1 winner Therellbguddaysyet from Michael O’Connor’s stable, and Kilworth’s Desmond Kenneally has Pray Tell in the line-up.

The opening race of the seven-race card gets underway at Cork Racecourse, Mallow, at  12.03pm with the Bar One Racing 3YO Maiden Hurdle.

Racing will conclude at 3.25pm with the 24-runner Greenvalley Transport Novice Handicap Hurdle.

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Trained by Gordon Elliott – the middle part of a treble – the 20/1 chance had two and half lengths in hand on Lucid Dreams from the John Ryan yard.

The runner-up, ridden by Danny Mullins, started at 22/1, while Yeah Man (16/1) and Perceval Legallois (10/1) finished third and fourth respectively.

The Grade 3 John Lynch Carpets Monksfield Novice Hurdle also went to the Gordon Elliott team through The Yellow Clay.

The 8/11 favourite, with Jack Kennedy in the saddle, came home a comfortable 10 length winner in the colours of Bective Stud.

Where’s My Jet (4/1) took the runner-up spot, ahead of Fleur In The Park (9/2) and Prends Garde A Toi in the two and a half mile contest.

Better Days Ahead (2/1) overturned the 1/2 favourite Slade Steel in the Race And Stay Irish EBF Beginners Chase.

In the ownership of Bective Stud, Jack Kennedy had four lengths of an advantage over the Henry de Bromhead-trained favourite at the winning post.

Big win for Ray Beckett

Tipperary handler Ray Beckett tasted success in the €45,000 Bar One Racing Tara Handicap Hurdle with 28/1 chance Sequoiaspirit, in the hands of jockey Liam Quinlan.

The opening Bar One Racing Boost 3-Y-O Maiden Hurdle was won by race favourite Total Look at 11/4.

Trained by Gavin Cromwell and ridden by Keith Donoghue, the French-bred son of Cloth Of Stars held off Beyond Your Dreams (18/5) by half a length.

Cast A Spell (12/1) lost her maiden tag in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF (Mares) Maiden Hurdle over two miles.

Ridden by Cian Quirke for handler Tom Hogan, the six-year-old daughter of Mastercraftsman crossed the finishing line two lengths ahead of the odds-on favourite Qualimita (30/100) in the 21-runner race.

Another de Bronhead/O’Keeffe winner

The good form of Henry de Bromhead and Darragh O’Keeffe continued as Love Me (14/1) became the Waterford trainer’s ninth winner in 14 days when taking the Gaeil Colmcille GAA Kells Handicap Hurdle.

The concluding race of the successful two-day festival went to the Emmet Mullins-handled John Gleeson-ridden Churchfield Sunset at 7/1.

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With five winners for Elliott, his stable jockey Jack Kennedy rode three winners and top owners Bective Stud and Gigginstown House Stud both had two winners each.

Wingmen wins on hurdling debut

Dual bumper winner last season Wingmen (8/15 favourite) opened proceedings, taking the Kilderry Pub & Kitchen Maiden Hurdle for Noel and Valerie Moran of Bective Stud, and jockey Jack Kennedy.

The Fairyhouse bumper winner last month Blue De Vaissy (4/6 favourite) easily won the first graded race of the afternoon, the Grade 3 Bar One Racing For Auction Novice Hurdle over two miles, in the colours of Gigginstown House Stud, again in the hands of Kerry rider Jack Kennedy.

Found A Fifty claims Fortria Chase

The Grade 2 Bar One Racing Fortria Chase then fell to Elliott’s team, as Found A Fifty (11/8 favourite) gave Kennedy a treble and owners Bective Stud their double.

Down Memory Lane (7/1), third to Caldwell Potter in a Grade 1 novice hurdle at Leopardstown last Christmas, made a successful debut over the larger obstacles when winning the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Beginners Chase for the Cullentra House team, jockey Mark Walsh and owner J.P. McManus.

The five-timer was completed for Elliott in the Bar One Racing ‘Guaranteed Overnight Prices’ bumper when Harry Swan pushed the Gigginstown House Stud-owned favourite Whinney Hill (6/4 favourite) out to claim a three and a half length success.

Home By The Lee wins his second Lismullen

The Grade 2 Railway Bar Lismullen Hurdle over two and a half miles was won by Home By The Lee (7/1).

The 2022 winner of the race, and third-place finisher last year, is trained by Joseph O’Brien for Seán O’Driscoll and the nine-year-old was ridden by Danny Mullins.

Cork jockey Michael O’Sullivan gave Slane Hill (9/1) an enterprising ride in the Lisadell Equine Hospital Handicap Hurdle. Hitting the front early doors, the seven-year-old came home in splendid isolation for trainer and owner Barry Connell.

County Waterford trainer John Flavin was also among the winners with Clarens (9/1) a battling winner of the Hotel Park St. Johann in Tirol Austria Handicap Hurdle, under Alex Harvey.

Day two of the Navan Racing Festival gets underway at 11.35am on Sunday.

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Though the British season officially runs from January 1 to December 31, the Ballydoyle trainer leads the standings by more than £3 million after a string of big-race successes.

Breeders’ Cup Classic contender City Of Troy has spearheaded O’Brien’s efforts in Britain this year, winning a Group 1 hat-trick in the Betfred Derby, Coral-Eclipse and Juddmonte International at York most recently.

Kyprios returned to the top of the staying division with victories in the Gold Cup and Al Shaqab Goodwood Cup, while Jan Brueghel led home a one-two for the stable in the Betfred St Leger at Doncaster.

As usual, Aidan O’Brien was quick to deflect praise as he emphasised the importance of the team effort at Ballydoyle and Coolmore.

“It is a big team effort from everyone in Ballydoyle and Coolmore,” O’Brien said. “There are so many special people in so many different areas that if I started talking about them, I would be here until tomorrow. You can have the horses and the place but, if you don’t have the people, it won’t happen.

“The owners are the people who put the resources in every year, to try and help us make it better. They put a lot of time in and give us advice. We do our best, give information back, and try to follow the roadmap that they draw for us. Some years it goes very well, some years it is ordinary, and some years it is medium.

“This was a good year for us. We won plenty of good races. I am just delighted for everybody when we do have a good year. We don’t take anything for granted and try to look to the future.”

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The 29-year-old, who previously won the title in 2019, 2020 and 2021, finished this season with 163 winners, more than 50 clear of his closest challenger, his fellow Irish rider, Rossa Ryan.

Highlights for the Murphy include a Group 1 double at Royal Ascot with Australian challenger Asfoora in the King Charles III Stakes and Khaadem in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes.

Commenting on his jockeys’ title success, Murphy said:

“This is something I really tried to achieve this year. I have had great support from so many trainers and owners, and having a fair lead has meant I have been able to enjoy it over the last month or so.

“It has taken a lot of hard work from my agent [Gavin Horne]. With the one meeting a day rule, it is paramount that he chooses the correct meeting to send me to, which is not easy when there are three or four meetings. I think he has done a great job, and that has been key to me riding so many winners.

Discussing future aims, the top jockey admitted:

“There are many races that I have not won. The two standouts for me are the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and the Derby. The Arc has so much international appeal and recognition nowadays, while the Derby has so much history.”

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Ridden by Jim Crowley, last year’s Group 1 Prix d’Ispahan winner came out on top this afternoon in a race that was far from free of incident.

The Shadwell-owned winner found trouble in running, while the French-trained Calandagan failed to get a clear passage as the field bunched up tightly in the home straight.

While Jim Crowley managed to find space in time, the 6/4 favourite Calandagan was not so lucky.

With first run on the six-year-old, Crowley powered clear as Calandagan eventually saw daylight and gave chase. The latter’s brave effort was too little too late, however,  as Anmaat held on for a half-length success for handler Owen Burrows, much to the surprise of the large Ascot British Champions Day crowd.

Royal Rhyme (25/1) was third for rider Clifford Lee and trainer Karl Burke.

However, Jim Crowley managed to extricate the six-year-old with time to spare, at which point his mount stormed home to collar 6/4F Calandagan in the final strides. The winning margin was half a length, with Royal Rhyme (25/1) just under two lengths further back in third.

Describing his first ever victory at the QIPCO British Champions Day meeting, the successful handler, Owen Burrows, said:

“We’ve always thought a lot of this horse. I know it sounds easy afterwards, but last year after he won his Group 1 in France, I did really fancy him for the Eclipse – but he had a very complex foot injury, which took a long time to come right. Credit to the team back at Shadwell, and obviously Sheikha Hissa’s patience with him as well.

“I had to convince Sheikha Hissa to come today but credit to her, I spoke to her on Monday morning and sent her a video of an easy piece of work he did last Saturday. She was happy with it and so was I.”

Jim Crowley, for whom it was a fifth QIPCO British Champions Day success, admitted:

“We had a nice draw and I wanted to go and sit third or fourth, one off the rail, and give myself an option. But I could see early on that Los Angeles wasn’t taking Ryan [Moore] at all and, when we turned into the straight, I had horses on my outside keeping me in.

“I was going well, but then we had to try and work our way through and we got completely stopped. There was no option at the time, we were just stuck. I won’t tell you what I was thinking. But when he got the gap, it was extraordinary the way the horse picked up and, believe me, it was no fluke.”

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A top-class display from the Roger Varian-trained 13/8 favourite, early in the home stretch the grey looked as though he would saunter away with the one-mile race.

He soon had a battle on his hands when the French-trained Facteur Cheval made his challenge inside the closing furlong of the contest.

Charyn responded strongly for his rider, Silvester de Souza, and pulled away to claim a two-length victory.

The Jerome Raynier-handled 11/2 shot Facteur Cheval was runner-up in the race for a second year, while Tamfana (7/2) was next best for trainer David Menuisier, four and a quarter lengths further behind in third place.

Charyn had already claimed Group 1 victories this season in the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot and the Group 1 Prix Jacque Le Marois in France.

An elated Roger Varian said:

“Charyn is a super horse and that was fantastic. Everything went very smooth, and it was a lovely race to watch. Silvestre got me a bit nervous! He just sat comfortable and you could see the second coming, and then Charyn had to get to work and he showed his battling qualities. He’s got everything, that horse.

“I promise you, he’s got the most amazing constitution. Every time I’ve run him in his life, I’ve thought he was too heavy, because he just holds his condition like no other horse. Touch wood, he’s sound, he loves his work, he loves his racing. He’s just got such a good mentality for the game, and an engine to go with it.”

Heading for stud

The winning conditioner expressed his disappointment that Charyn would now run again as a five-year-old next season, stating:

“I think it’s already been announced that he will retire at the end of this season. He will be a stallion for Nurlan Bizakov’s stud operation in France. I, of course, would love him to stay in training, but I think that’s not going to be the case. We’ll have to see how he comes out of this race, we might just contemplate one more international run.”

The successful rider, Silvester de Souza, admitted that he was in front too early in the home straight:

“I thought I was in front a bit too soon, but the ground is so wet and, when it’s wet, you can lose momentum if you try and take them back. You just have to sit quiet and I knew that, whatever challenged me in the final furlong, I had plenty left.”

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Following the Juddmonte operation’s success with Bluestocking in the recent Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at ParisLongchamps, this time the Andrew Balding-trained the three-year-old Kalpana (100/30 favourite) gave Juddmonte another success at the highest level.

Ridden by a confident looking and acting William Buick, the daughter of Study Of Man put the race to bed quickly as she galloped out strongly to account for Aidan O’Brien’s Wingspan (12/1) by two lengths and Tiffany (13/1), from Sir Mark Prescott’s yard, by a further three lengths.

The winning handler Andrew Balding said of Kalpana, who completed a third straight victory:

“I have never known a horse improve as much as Kalpana. I think I even mentioned to Barry [Mahon, head of Juddmonte’s European operations] that we might put her in a sale this time last year! Just every time we started doing more with her, she’s just improved and improved, from Wolverhampton to here in 10 months.

“She is just an absolute diamond, as you can see afterwards. She has a very special temperament and is by an exciting young stallion. She’s from the first crop of Study Of Man, so it’s pretty exciting for them as well.

The winning rider was full of praise for his able partner, Kalpana, admitting:

“Kalpana has an incredible mind and is a jockey’s dream. I parked her up three wide with no cover but she was always comfortable, never wasted any energy and saved the whole way in that ground.

“It is a very special moment because it is my first Group One winner for Andrew. I started with Andrew, and Andrew and his whole family have played a huge part in my career so thank you to him and, obviously, Kalpana; what she did there was very good and she’s only going to improve.”

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The Aidan O’Brien-trained 8/11 favourite showed his strength and determination was he ran out a two and a quarter length winner of the longest race on British Champions Day.

Ridden by Ryan Moore, the son of Galileo tracked his stable companion The Euphrates throughout most of the contest, with the recent Prix Du Cadran winner at ParisLongchamp taking command on entering the home straight.

Though Sweet William (8/1 and Trawlerman (5/1) last year’s third and winner respectively, challenged last season’s runner-up, the Moyglare Stud and Coolmore partners-owned Kyprios dug deep to improve his season’s record to seven wins from seven race.

Sweet William, with Rab Havlin in the saddle, was second for John and Thady Gosden, while Trawlerman and William Buick were a length and a half back in third place.

Incredibly the victory was a first win for Ballydoyle handler Aidan O’Brien at British Champions Day since 2019.

Speaking to the assembled media post-race, O’Brien said:

“All credit goes to the team – everyone at home who has done all the work with him and have a very close connection to him. It is incredible to have him back [Kyprios had a serious infection in a joint capsule after the 2022 season]. We thought the best that would happen would be that we could save him to go to stud. He still has a massive team around him. His stable is outside the front door and we see him every day.

“He is a very special horse. Ryan was in total control on him after the first furlong, and it was a joy to watch it. He is relentless and has an unbelievable amount of quality, so it doesn’t matter if you go slow or if you go fast, he just goes there and he switches off. Ryan rides him incredibly and knows him inside out.”

O’Brien continued by discussing the winner’s attitude to racing:

“He is very relaxed, loves racing, and he loves this distance and finds it very comfortable. Credit to the lads for leaving him at this distance – he enjoys it. You wouldn’t have known he had had a race the last day and he didn’t lose any weight. He is so laidback, his blood doesn’t get up until after the race – you can see him now, having a buck – but it takes a race to get his blood up.

“The plan was to come here, give him the winter off, then give him two trials before the Gold Cup next year. So that’s what we are working for – we will get through the winter and the spring, and try to come back here for the Gold Cup.”

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The lightly raced sprinter, racing in the colours of Wathnan Racing for the first time, travelled strongly towards the middle of the course and found plenty for pressure at the death, eventually holding off Swingalong (17/2) by a head, with Flora Of Bermuda (25/1) a further neck back.

Kind Of Blue, a recent purchase for Wathnan Racing, when narrowly beaten in the Group 1 Haydock Sprint Cup, follows in the hoofprints of his relations The Tin Man and Deacon Blues in claiming the Group 1 QIPCO British Champions Sprint at Ascot.

The delighted winning trainer James Fanshawe commented:

“Kind Of Blue is the third close relation that has won this race, all from the same family and all bred by the Hoppers, the Grundys and the Morrises. All trainers get attached to families that do them well and this is a family that has done us tremendously well.

“Wathnan Racing bought him three weeks ago and he’s a really exciting horse for them going forwards. He’s got the Group One under his belt now. It’s been a big team effort to get him here. Dan Muscutt has ridden him in all his races and done all the homework on him; obviously to all the team back home, I’m really grateful.

James Doyle reflected on King Of Blue’s lack of experience in claiming the Group 1 contest, stating:

“To think Kind Of Blue was unraced before the start of this season, he has made giant strides and run some cracking races in defeat. He ran well here back in June in the Commonwealth and ran great in the Haydock Sprint, when he was just touched off.

“It was a long last 10 strides! He was very brave. For a very inexperienced horse to lead a furlong and a half out and still knuckle down when he felt the second horse come to me is a true testament to not only his ability but the heart that he has.”

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