Matt Brocklebank looks ahead to a mouthwatering clash between the two star two-mile chasers in Saturday's Clarence House Chase.
So which camp are you in, then? It’s the green and gold of Jonbon or double green of El Fabiolo, the leading two-mile chasers in Britain and Ireland set to face off once more in Saturday’s Bet MGM Clarence House Chase at Ascot.
The score – currently at one apiece from their previous meetings as novice hurdlers at Aintree and novice chasers at Cheltenham last March – needs settling, and whoever emerges on top will clearly have the momentum leading into the Queen Mother Champion Chase back at the Festival in a couple of months’ time.
As a £570,000 full-brother to Douvan, Jonbon has had a lot to live up to from day one. ‘He’ll never been anywhere near as good; what a waste of money…’ I’m sure it’s all been levelled at the gelding, even before he stepped foot on a racecourse.
And yet, slowly but surely under the eye of Nicky Henderson, the son of Walk In The Park has continued to deliver in the heat of battle and, crucially, mature as a character as he’s gained experience. The once buzzy, indiscriminate minigun of a horse has grown, mentally and physically, and been expertly shaped into a pummelling Sherman tank.
So Henderson, this race’s most successful trainer with six previous victories, will understandably head down the M4 from Lambourn full of optimism following Jonbon’s rock-solid, drama-free wins in the Shloer Chase at Cheltenham and the Tingle Creek at Sandown so far this season.
He’s beaten the best of British quite comfortably and could still have a touch more improvement under the bonnet, but Jonbon now faces a familiar foe and will have to cope with another switch in the saddle too, usual rider Aidan Coleman still on the sidelines and for the time being joined by Seven Barrows stable jockey Nico De Boinville, who had taken over in both pre-Christmas assignments.
Willie Mullins has developed a real affiliation with the Clarence House in recent years, a flame no doubt fanned by the achievements of the remarkable Un De Sceaux who won the race three times on the trot from 2016.
That same horse just came up short as a 12-year-old here in 2020, while Mullins has had his fingers burnt with Energumene who was runner-up to Shishkin in a memorable clash two years back, and when the subsequent Queen Mother hero managed only third behind an on-song, front-running Editeur Du Gite in the rescheduled contest at Cheltenham 12 months ago.
El Fabiolo has never been to Ascot (Jonbon won the Grade 2 Kennel Gate Novices’ Hurdle here early on in his career), but has a perfect 5-5 hit-rate on right-handed tracks since moving to Ireland, and the chase record remains unblemished too following last month’s comeback win in the Hilly Way at Cork.
Saddled with a sizeable penalty back in Grade 2 company that day, the Arkle winner could hardly have done much more to rubberstamp his credentials in the big league, and while scruffy at the second fence and not great at the last either, his jumping has always been more efficient than spectacular. Nothing to get overly worried about.
A relatively graceful, smooth-travelling sort when compared to Saturday’s principal rival, the tactical make-up of this race looks pretty obvious, even this far out. No matter the pilot, Jonbon will surely be given the aggressive sort of ride he seems to need to light him up; Paul Townend will look to stalk and pounce in the straight.
Townend had no trouble pulling it off on Un De Sceaux in 2018, 16/1 Speredek the rabbit to reel in on that occasion, but the Shishkin race is probably the one that still haunts him to this day. Not that the rider put a foot wrong – Energumene was electric out in front and came a couple of lengths clear at the second-last fence.
Energumene’s lead was down to around a length at the last, before Shishkin lunged late to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
Similar entertainment levels are not guaranteed of course, but if Jonbon leads El Fabiolo narrowly between the final two fences this weekend then the race will already have lived up to its billing.
What happens from that point on is not easy to pin down. The Irish horse is already favourite for the Queen Mother; he'll no doubt be clear favourite to go 2-1 up in this head-to-head at Ascot too. It's hard to imagine the layers have misjudged this potential classic, but there’s only a pound between them on Timeform's ratings and neither looks banker material on account of the other's obvious strengths.
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