Chacun Pour Soi reclaimed his position as Timeform’s highest-rated jumper in training following his impressive defeat of stable-companion Allaho at Punchestown on Tuesday evening, earning a figure of 179.
The nine-year-old had fluffed his lines when only third in last month’s Queen Mother Champion Chase but left that form firmly behind (Cheltenham runner-up Nube Negra was nearly 25 lengths behind in third this time) as stable jockey Paul Townend was handsomely rewarded for remaining loyal to him.
Timeform chase handicapper Phil Turner said: “It was a much more satisfactory race than that messy affair at Cheltenham and Chacun Pour Soi put up a tremendous performance, one which is fully backed up by the stopwatch. The fact that Allaho was unable to dominate in the same way as he’d done in the Ryanair Chase probably owed more to the winner’s brilliance than this shorter trip, and aggressive front-running tactics could well be the way to go with Chacun Pour Soi from now on.
"Of course, there is bound to be plenty of debate as to his effectiveness up the Cheltenham hill over the next 11 months or so, particularly as a clash with the hugely-exciting Sporting Life Arkle winner Shishkin awaits at some stage.
"However, it must be stressed that Chacun Pour Soi is already a two-mile chaser from the very top drawer and his career shouldn’t be defined whether he ends it with a Cheltenham Festival win or not.
"Indeed, there have been only 12 Timeform chase performances of 170 or above during the past two seasons and Chacun Pour Soi is responsible for five of them – Allaho (twice) is the only other horse to have posted more than one 170+ performance in that time. It’s safe to say Chacun Pour Soi has been the best jumper in training over this period despite that costly Cheltenham flop!"
Timeform
