King of the chasers: Kemboy beats Cyrname and Altior in the official rankings
Kemboy has been crowned the top jumps performer of last season on the back of his defeat of stablemate and Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Al Boum Photo at the Punchestown festival last month.
The seven-year-old’s rating of 177 in the Anglo-Irish Classifications for 2018-19 earned him the title by a pound from Cyrname, who tops the 2m4f chasing division with a rating of 176. The illustrious Master Minded (186), also trained by Paul Nicholls, is the only horse to have recorded a better rating in that division, when he did so in the 2007-08 season.
Altior remains top of the two-mile chasers with a rating of 175, the same as last season and equal of that achieved by his former stablemate Sprinter Sacre in his miraculous 2015-16 comeback season.
Tiger Roll, the dual Cheltenham cross-country and Grand National winner, is rated the third-best staying chaser and fifth-best chaser of the season with a rating of 172.
Champion jumper Kemboy was undefeated in four completed races last season, his only blip when slipping and unseating David Mullins after jumping the first fence in the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
A handicap winner off a mark of 147 at last year’s Punchestown festival, Kemboy has risen the ranks rapidly, recording three Grade 1 victories in the Savills Chase, Aintree Bowl and Punchestown Gold Cup.
Martin Greenwood, chase handicapper team leader, had a warning for this season’s potential rivals to the big two chasers trained by Mullins, and said: "Both horses are only seven years of age and there is no reason why they both can’t continue to improve."
While he has a long way to go to reach Kauto Star’s 2009/10 benchmark of 190, Kemboy has the likes of Long Run and Denman (182) and Bobs Worth (180) in his sights, having been rated higher than the previous Gold Cup winners including Native River (176) and Best Mate (175).
The highest-rated novice chaser is another Punchestown festival winner, also housed in the stables of Irish champion trainer Mullins.
Chacun Pour Soi’s defeat of JLT winner Defi Du Seuil in the Grade 1 Ryanair Novice Chase, only his second race for Mullins after a beginners’s chase win at Naas, earned him the rating of 167 in the two-mile novice division.
The rating topped that of leading staying novice Topofthegame, who's mark of 164 for his only win of the campaign in the RSA Chase at Cheltenham, puts him a pound higher than top-class pair Santini and Delta Work.
Lostintranslation, who beat Topofthegame in the Grade 1 Mildmay Novices' Chase at Aintree, is rated 161.
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Published on 23 May 2019inNews
Last updated 18:07, 23 May 2019
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