Nicky Henderson celebrates with Jonbon

Cheltenham Festival Jonbon analysis after Betfair Ascot Chase victory

By Ben Linfoot

Horse Racing

Sat February 14, 2026 · 4h ago

Ben Linfoot ponders Jonbon’s Ryanair Chase claims after his victory over Pic D’orhy in the Betfair Ascot Chase.

Jonbon relishes Ryanair trip

That Jonbon has managed to win 12 Grade Ones is as much down to a lack of depth in Britain as his ability, Saturday’s Betfair Ascot Chase being a case in point.

Pic D’orhy is an admirable horse, especially when fresh at Ascot, and he ran a blinder again in defeat, but he is 11-years-old now and it would’ve been mighty disappointing had Jonbon not accounted for him here.

Take Pic D’Orhy out of the equation and this was a penalty kick without a goalkeeper, the ancient and 152-rated Edwardstone the next best rival, himself beaten by the 142-rated Blow Your Wad in this race, so there’s no dressing this up as anything other than another routine victory for Nicky Henderson’s 10-year-old.

It’s remarkable Jonbon has never run in a race with double-figure runners and he has run in fields of four or fewer 10 times, winning all of them, so there is no doubting this horse’s ability to get the job done when the odds are stacked in his favour.

The paucity of opposition has perhaps anchored his rating a little and he has the lowest end-of-season Timeform rating (172) in the top 10 of the winningmost Grade One winners over fences this century, something that detractors can point to when crabbing a career record that now stands at 20 wins and seven seconds from 27 races.

But the main reason Jonbon is dismissed in conversations about the best horses around is his record at the Cheltenham Festival, where he is zero from three, his five-and-a-half length second to El Fabiolo in the Arkle the closest he has come.

And yet. Could things be different this year?

After all, this is surely the year he’ll step up in trip to 2m5f in the Ryanair Chase for the first time and all the signs point to that being a major positive to his Festival chances. It might be what he has wanted for years.

This latest victory took his record at intermediate trips to 3/3, complementing his two wins in the Melling Chase over 2m4f at Aintree, and after stamina won him the day against Thistle Ask in the Clarence House over 2m1f last time it was stamina that saw him outmuscle Pic D’orhy in this race, too.

The distance will give him a chance at least and it will be interesting to see how his campaign of four runs, three of which were around two miles, stacks up against the three-mile chasers that are coming back in trip.

You could argue he might be sharper than the staying chasers, but on the other hand you look at the likely strength of the Irish team and concede that a Ryanair will likely ask more of him than has ever been the case in any of his intermediate trip assignments in the past.

Perhaps his emergence in the division will help make up owner JP McManus’ mind when it comes to the possible supplementation of Fact To File in the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup?

That horse going elsewhere would certainly make a Ryanair assignment easier, but it would also probably open the door for a Gaelic Warrior challenge and that could be a formidable one. Maybe Jonbon would be subjected to a double-figure field for the first time, too, while he’ll still have the Festival factor hanging over him.

The Ryanair antepost market is in its usual February flux, full of what ifs and confusion, with Fact To File odds-on in places with the ‘Non Runner No Bet’ bookies while as big as 9/4 without the concession.

Gaelic Warrior is therefore joint-favourite at around even-money with several layers, with Jonbon generally 4/1 after his Ascot win. Impaire Et Passe, who won the Red Mills Chase at Gowran minutes after Jonbon’s victory, has been backed into 8/1, the same price as other potential Irish raiders like Banbridge and Heart Wood.

It’s a headscratcher of an antepost race right up until the final decs, but Jonbon must’ve booked his place in the line-up today.

And a Festival win in the Ryanair Chase would undoubtedly go some way to beefing up the substance of his legacy, one that is weaker than the headline numbers suggest as things currently stand.

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What was Skelton up to with Heltenham?

A side issue, yes, but what was Dan Skelton up to running the 134-rated Heltenham in this race?

Well, first thing to say is he finished fifth, picking up another £5k to go with the other £3.2million in his pursuit of becoming Champion Trainer for the first time.

Secondly he got a confidence-boosting full round of jumping in, despite a few errors, which will be welcome after two consecutive falls.

And thirdly the same owners had Flegmatik in this race for Skelton last year, picking up £10k in fourth before he almost got the job done when a half-length second in a handicap chase at Kempton next time out.

It'll be interesting to see where Heltenham goes after this - especially if the handicapper drops the already well-handicapped nine-year-old a pound or two after his 39-length beating.

Cheltenham Festival Jonbon analysis after Betfair Ascot Chase victory

Jonbon relishes Ryanair trip

What was Skelton up to with Heltenham?

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