Jonbon now 11-8 favourite for Champion Chase at Cheltenham Festival after comfortable win over Energumene
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WILL the last Jonbon doubter to leave please turn out the lights?. Nicky Henderson’s nine-year-old still had his sceptics heading to Ascot but produced a performance of authority as he swatted aside Energumene. He might be getting long in the tooth, but Willie Mullins’ dual Champion Chase winner is still dangerous, as he showed when winning on his return from a massive lay-off at Cork.
![[Jockey Nico de Boinville celebrates winning a horse race.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/jockey-nico-de-boinville-celebrates-964696075.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
But he was unable to go with Jonbon when he went through the gears at the top of the straight, and a majestic leap at the last sealed the deal in the Grade 1 Clarence House. Hendo said: "He's not the most straightforward horse, but he's just a joy. What a performance.
“Nico said he was very fresh and nearly too on it. He was out and really up for it. He just wanted to do it and loves the game. "It was a brave way to do it, but the right way. He's a genuine two-miler and a top-class one at that.”. Jonbon has a glittering CV, with nine Grade 1 wins and over £1.1 million in the bank for his owner JP McManus. But there have been questions about the strength of the opposition he’s been beating up over the last few years and he has never really attracted much of a following.
He is clearly winning over hearts and minds now, judging by the reception he received as he returned to the winners’ enclosure from the hardy crowd who braved the cold at Ascot. No doubt, a victory at the Cheltenham Festival will earn him true fan favourite status, and Nico de Boinville doesn’t think he’ll have a better chance than in this year’s Champion Chase.
