The Willie Mullins-trained Chacun Pour Soi was recently crowned the best chaser trained in Ireland or Britain in the 2020-21 Anglo-Irish Jumps Classification. His William Hill Champion Chase success at Punchestown in April earned him a mark of 176.
The nine-year-old enjoyed a near perfect season, winning four of his five starts. His wins included the Ladbrokes Dublin Chase at the Dublin Racing Festival and the Group 1 Paddy’s Rewards Club Chase at Leopardstown.
His only defeat of the season came in the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase at the Cheltenham Festival. Chacun Pour Soi could only manage only third place behind Put The Kettle On, though he did set the record straight at Punchestown in April.
Chacun Pour Soi sits alone atop the standings this year. The WellChild Gold Cup winner Minella Indo has been given a mark of 175. Trained by Henry De Bromhead, Minella Indo get the better of stablemate A Plus Tard [172]. Al Boum Photo [170], who was seeking a historic third consecutive win in the race, was third
.Another brilliant Cheltenham performance came courtesy of Allaho, who set pulses racing in the Ryanair Chase to earn a mark of 174 and third place in the standings.
Clan Des Obeaux is highest British-rated horse
The highest-rated British horse in the standings is the Paul Nicholls-trained Clan Des Obeaux, whose thrilling Ladbrokes Punchestown Gold Cup victory in April earned a mark of 172 and rates him the equal of A Plus Tard.
Shishkin and Energumene each earned marks of 169 during campaigns full of promise. Shishkin, switched to the larger obstacles having won the previous year’s Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, was undefeated in five starts. His season culminated in winning the Sporting Life Arkle Chase and Doom Bar Maghull Novices’ Chase at Aintree for trainer Nicky Henderson and jockey Nico De Boinville.
Energumene, meanwhile, missed out on a run at Cheltenham but was otherwise unbeaten in four starts, including a pair of Grade 1s at Leopardstown and Punchestown.
Hurdlers
In the Hurdle division, it was the brilliant Honeysuckle leading the way with a rating of 165, clear of a trio of fellow Irish-trained stars on 164, Sharjah, Flooring Porter and Klassical Dream.
Andrew Mealor, BHA Hurdle team leader, said:
“Honours were shared in the staying division between Stayers’ Hurdle winner Flooring Porter and impressive Punchestown scorer Klassical Dream (both 164), and hot on their heels were the leading British stayers Paisley Park (163) and Thyme Hill (162) who served up a cracking finish to the Long Walk Hurdle earlier in the season.
“Overall, 2020-21 was another low-key season for the established hurdlers in ratings terms with Honeysuckle the only hurdler to rate 165+, though we did see some standout performances in the novice division, notably at Cheltenham from Appreciate It (160) and Bob Olinger (159), who both top their respective categories.
