Ricci's 'every man for himself' returns in style

Leading owner Rich Ricci and Champion Trainer Willie Mullins unleashed a potentially high class horse at Naas today as brittle Chacun Pour Soi returned from a three year layoff to impressively win the Toalsbet.com Beginners Chase.

The seven year old gelding made his chase debut when finishing third at Enghien in his native France on March 16 2016 but had not appeared since then and today was heavily backed in to 4/9 favourite as he debuted for Mullins.

Jockeys' Championship leader Paul Townend did the steering and Chacun Pour Soi made all for a near-perfect round of jumping, to score effortlessly by 31 lengths from Portmore Lough

Trainer Mullins was overseeing Cheltenham preparations and afterwards an understandably impressed Townend said “he's very likeable. It was like riding a handicapper. He made one mistake at the ditch down the back but he sorted himself out and you couldn't be any more pleased with him. He's really exciting, he's a good horse.

“He obviously had a big reputation coming to us but they don't always live up to that.

“They found a good one there anyway. Hopefully he can keep improving and building on that. He went his own gallop there and was doing everything at his ease.”

Chacun Pour Soi's win comes at the end of a controversial week for owner Ricci and betting company BetBright, for whom he acted as executive chairman. As of last Tuesday, Betbright ceased gambling operations on a permanent basis after the company was bought by 888 Holdings.

That sale has resulted in some outstanding ante-post bets being voided, which has drawn sharp and sustained criticism from punters.

Chacun Pour Soi, meanwhile, translates from French to “every man for himself”.

Quotes from Gary Carson