Energumene

Energumene was retired from racing, as a 12-year-old, on April 28, 2026 after finishing a remote third to stable companion Il Etait Temps in the Champion Chase at Punchestown. All told, the son of useful jumps sire Denham Red won 14 of his 23 starts under National Hunt Rules, including 12 of his 20 steeplechases, and amassed over £1.2 million in prize money.

Owned by Tony Bloom, chairman of Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, and trained by Willie Mullins, Energumene won six times at Grade 1 level, including back-to-back victories in the aforementioned Champion Chase in 2022 and 2023 However, to the wider racing public, he is best known for his exploits at the Cheltenham Festival, where he also won the Queen Mother Champion Chase in both 2022 and 2023. Indeed, following his retirement, Mullins’ stable jockey Paul Mullins, who rode him in all bar one of his starts over regulation fences, said of Energumene, “He was a star of a horse. He was a joy and will be hard to replace.”

On his first appearance at the Cheltenham Festival, Energumene was sent off 5/2 second-favourite for the 2022 Queen Mother Champion Chase, behind Shishkin, who had narrowly beaten him in the Clarence House Chase at Ascot on his previous start. However, with Shishkin never travelling on the prevailing soft going, Energumene was left with a straightforward task and readily went clear in the closing stages to beat Funambule Sivola by eight and a half lengths.

In 2023, Energumene was once again beaten in his preparatory race for the Queen Mother Champion Chase, the rearranged Clarence House Chase, run that year on the New Course at Cheltenham. Nevertheless, he was sent off 6/5 favourite for the two-mile chasing championship and duly obliged, flying the final fence and keeping on well for an impressive 10-length victory over Captain Guinness.