See also » Energumene-triumphs-in-dramatic-Champion-Chase
We just thought we got the tactics completely wrong at Ascot so the plan today was to follow Shishkin. The problem Paul then had was you could see after two fences Shishkin wasn’t handling the ground so it then became a case of when was Paul going to forget about Shishkin and ride the race. Nico was wise in pulling Shishkin up, you could clearly see he hated the ground. I was very disappointed to see Chacun Pour Soi go out of the race when he did. I was gutted for Patrick (Mullins) because he appeared to be loving it. He might have given him a race. At every stage, though, Energumene seemed to be cantering and these extreme conditions suit him. He probably has more speed than we thought, at Ascot we felt after the race we should have waited rather than make all. That was the only plan I could come up with to turn the tables on Shishkin. It was a bit of an anti-climax for the neutrals but it was more nerve-wracking for me because you could see he was travelling the whole way. W P Mullins, trainer

Permission was given for Envoi Allen (FR) and Politologue (FR) to both wear red hoods to be removed at the start.

Further permission was given for Put The Kettle On (IRE) to go early to post and be mounted in the chute; the filly will be wearing earplugs during the race.

The performance of Shishkin (IRE), which started favourite and was pulled up, was considered.

Nicky Henderson explained that the gelding was never travelling in the ground which was changed to Heavy immediately after the race; his explanation was noted.

The Veterinary Officer reported that a post-race examination of Shishkin (IRE) failed to reveal any abnormalities.