Paul Townend: 'This is Chacun's playground and whatever beats him will win'

Tuesday: 1.10 Leopardstown
Paddy's Rewards Club Chase (Grade 1) | 2m1f | 5yo+ | RTE/RTV

Chacun Pour Soi has spent his whole career being a home banker in the pools, so why should we desert him now? Surely he is worth inclusion in all coupons despite his advancing years, especially at Leopardstown where he is almost unbeatable.

The six-time Grade 1 winner has form figures of 21111 at the course, while his form outside of Ireland reads 35U. This is his track and has already been his race.

He was a beaten favourite in 2019 by a future Cheltenham Gold Cup winner in A Plus Tard. He returned in 2020 to go one better and he posted an RPR of 176 in the process. That sort of level should suffice here.

If the handicapper is right then Chacun Pour Soi should be long odds-on, not odds against. He has an official rating of 172, which is 12lb superior to anything else in the race. Captain Guinness and Gentleman De Mee both boast marks of 160, while Blue Lord is rated 159. This should really be a straightforward assignment for the best horse in the race.

But why is he not odds on? His age is perhaps the main reason why. He will turn 11 in a few days and gives away four years to Gentleman De Mee and three to Blue Lord. Certainly the latter has potential for improvement.

Blue Lord would have been runner-up to Appreciate It in the 2021 Supreme Novices' Hurdle but for coming down at the last, and he is five from six since being sent over fences. His sole defeat arrived in last season's Arkle when third to Edwardstone but he returned with a gutsy win in the Clonmel Oil Chase last month.

Blue Lord: Grade 1 winner at the track in FebruaryCredit: Patrick McCann

The worry with Blue Lord is whether he is slick enough over this sort of trip. He tends to give his fences plenty of air and if Chacun Pour Soi is on a going day he could gain half-a-length on him at each obstacle.

Even allowing for that, Blue Lord still appears to be the main threat to Chacun Pour Soi as last season's bunch of novice chasers don't look to be as limited as we thought they were at the time.

Rachael Blackmore has picked Captain Guinness over Coeur Sublime but it would be no surprise if the last-named outran his odds here. It is hard to envisage either Andy Dufresne or Jeremys Flame winning, while Gentleman De Mee has not started the season the way he finished the last one.

This is a home match for Chacun Pour Soi and a home win looks the most likely result.

Townend confident about Chacun

Paul Townend has been on board Chacun Pour Soi for seven of his eight wins since joining Willie Mullins and his form figures on the son of Policy Maker read 121111311.

That record must have made it hard for Townend to snub him not once but twice last season, but the switch to Energumene proved an inspired choice as the young pretender ended Willie Mullins' hoodoo in the Champion Chase and then followed up at Punchestown.

Townend is delighted to renew his relationship with Chacun Pour Soi at the ten-year-old's happiest hunting ground and thinks he will take some stopping if he repeats his Punchestown performance in April.

Chacun Pour Soi: reunited with Paul Townend at LeopardstownCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

Townend said: "He's back to Leopardstown and he loves it round here. He is not getting any younger but I think he ran an absolute screamer at Punchestown behind Energumene last season and if he is anywhere right he will take all the beating."

Speaking in his Ladbrokes blog, Townend added: "Blue Lord is interesting. He won well in Clonmel up in trip but is dropping back to two miles now. This is Chacun's playground and whatever beats him will win."

What they say

Frank Berry, racing manager to JP McManus, owner of Andy Dufresne and Gentleman De Mee
Gentleman De Mee ran well [when fourth] in the Tingle Creek but it looks like he'll need to come forward again from that. Andy Dufresne didn't run a bad race either last time in the Fortria on his first start of the season, so hopefully he can run a nice race too.

Willie Mullins, trainer of Blue Lord and Chacun Pour Soi
Chacun is in good order. He's not getting any younger but he loves this track. Blue Lord is in good form and is the younger horse but Paul [Townend] has chosen Chacun and that's enough for me.

Henry de Bromhead, trainer of Captain Guinness and Coeur Sublime
Captain Guinness was giving plenty of weight away to everything when he won the Fortria at Navan, so we were absolutely delighted with him there. We'd love him to win a Grade 1 race and he's in very good form. Coeur Sublime looked to be very unlucky at Naas. We obviously will never know whether he would have won or not but Rachael [Blackmore] felt like she had plenty underneath her when he fell. He's a very talented horse on his day and we're looking forward to seeing how he gets on.

Gavin Cromwell, trainer of Jeremys Flame
We're looking forward to running her. She'll need a bit of luck but is in great nick and will love the ground. She jumps very well.

Read the rest of Tuesday's previews:

1.20 Kempton: Is Boothill's bid for Wayward Lad success as simple as his odds suggest?

1.29 Limerick: Can Gordon Elliott strike again? Analysis and quotes for the Limerick feature

1.40 Chepstow: He's improving, big time' - find out which huge Finale outsider is fancied

1.45 Leopardstown: Easy work for Facile Vega? Irish racing's next big thing tackles Grade 1 novice

2.30 Kempton: 'This race fits in perfectly' - Edwardstone primed to play the star role again

2.50 Chepstow: 2022 Welsh Grand National pinstickers' guide: quotes and ratings for every horse

3.00 Leopardstown: Paddy Power Chase: key quotes and insight for one of Ireland's biggest handicaps

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