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Road To Champion Chase – Jonbon Cruises Past Energumene At Ascot And Shortens For Cheltenham Festival Glory

Jonbon Tingle Creek

One of the key Queen Mother Champion Chase trials on the British calendar went the way of Nicky Henderson’s Jonbon at the weekend, as the Seven Barrows inmate stormed to an emphatic six-and-a-half length victory over main Irish rival Energumene in the Grade 1 Clarence House Chase at Ascot. We look back at Saturday’s sumptuous performance and take a look how the betting as changed for the 2m Championship contest which takes place on day two of the Cheltenham Festival.

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Saturday, 18th January – Clarence House Chase @ Ascot

Wins in the Shloer Chase at Cheltenham in November and an impressive victory in the Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown has seen Jonbon cement his place as the leading British-trained two-miler, but for the first time this season he would face a huge Irish-trained rival in the shape of Energumene. A dual Champion Chaser in his own right, the Willie Mullins-trained 11-year-old had put in a fine performance on his comeback run when cruising to an easy win in the Grade 2 Hilly Way Chase at Cork, and this tussle between Jonbon and Energumene, Henderson and Mullins was set to light up at Ascot at the weekend.

However, Jonbon, two years younger than his Emerald Isle adversary, turned it into a procession, as under a confident Nico De Boinville he produced some sparkling leaps throughout the contest and simply cruised clear of Energumene in the closing stages to win as he wished.

Edwardstone and Boothill completed the four-strong line-up, but as expected they found themselves out the back from the flag fall and that was where they stayed.

Whilst some could’ve been disappointed with Energumene’s performance, it was simply the brilliance of Jonbon on the day that saw the veteran struggle from halfway. Exuberant leaps twinned with a thriving engine, Jonbon looked every bit a Champion Chase winner in the making, but two previous defeats at the Cheltenham Festival has seen the bookmakers keep him at odds-against.

A 9/4 chance prior to Ascot’s romp, Jonbon is now a best-priced 11/8 with sponsors BetMGM, at the time of writing, and that certainly looks more than fair. If the Champion Chase was round Ascot or Sandown, Jonbon would be edging towards the 1/2 mark, but because it’s at Cheltenham, where he finished second to Constitution Hill in the 2022 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle and second to El Fabiolo in the 2023 Arkle, his price is eye-catchingly big.

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A rampant 10-length winner of the 2023 Champion Chase to retain the crown he won a year prior to that, Energumene doubled in price for the race and is now as big as 10/1, having been available at 9/2 and 5/1 before that Ascot run. Undoubtedly, coming to the end of his time at the top, Energumene is still going to be one of the major rivals to Jonbon come March and he’s certainly not one to completely discard despite a harrowing defeat at the weekend.

Energumene’s stablemate Gaelic Warrior, who was phenomenal last season when winning the Arkle, is likely to be the main rival to Jonbon and he’s now a best-priced 7/2 chance for the Champion Chase, while Edwardstone and Boothill were eased to 100/1 outsiders for the event after they failed to lay a glove on Jonbon, who has been the star of the division this campaign.

Champion Chase Ante-Post Movers

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