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Facile Vega and Energumene overcome jumping errors at the Punchestown Festival to win for trainer Willie Mullins and jockey Paul Townend.
Future Champions Novice Hurdle (G1)
Facile Vega overcame a bad mistake at the third-last hurdle to record a seventh success in Punchestown's Champion Novice Hurdle for trainer Willie Mullins.
Out of the four-time Cheltenham Festival winner Quevega, Facile Vega remained unbeaten through his bumper campaign. He was an impressive winner of the Future Champions Novice Hurdle (G1) at Leopardstown in December but suffered surprise defeats at the Dublin Racing Festival and Cheltenham Festival.
Ridden by Paul Townend, the six-year-old travelled confidently throughout the race. He was second when making a dramatic jumping error at the third-last but recovered well to draw clear before the final hurdle. Stablemate Il Etait Temps finished seven-and-a-half-lengths back in second with the Oliver McKiernan-trained No Looking Back in third.
Facile Vega is likely to go chasing next season. "Paul [Townend] thinks he doesn't have any respect for hurdles, so the sooner we go chasing the better," said trainer Willie Mullins.
"Paul said all season he's been capable of doing something like that [the mistake]. He did it at Cheltenham and did it today, and we'll pop him over a fence maybe next week and put him out to grass and then come back over fences next season."
Champion Chase (G1)
Jockey Paul Townend was required to sit another fourth-last mistake as Energumene recovered to win the Punchestown Champion Chase (G1) on Tuesday to give trainer Willie Mullins a Group One double on the card.
The Champion Chase (G1) winner was prominent in the early stages and was attempting to challenge when making a near-disastrous jumping error at the fourth last fence. He disputed the lead with stable-mate Chacun Pour Soi into the final fence before rallying to win by three-quarters of a length. Chacun Pour Soi finished second with fellow Mullins-trained Blue Lord third.
Townend was visibly delighted with Energumene, saying "He gave a couple of fences fair belts, which is uncharacteristic for him really.
"He's a real favourite of mine and when he got a better jump than me at the last it looked like we were going to get the worst of it, but credit to my horse for pulling it out.
"Maybe we had a harder race than we thought at Cheltenham, it was such a good performance, but he's a very honest horse and maybe he just puts it all in on the bridle."
It was a second Cheltenham/Punchestown Champion Chase double for Energumene after completing the same feat in 2022.
An honourable mention goes to Chacun Pour Soi, who finished second. Winner of the Punchestown Champion Chase (G1) in 2021, the eleven-year-old has not been the force of old this season, finishing well-beaten in all four previous starts. The return to these conditions seemed to revitalise the veteran chaser, having placed second to Energumene in this race twelve months prior.