Alex Hammond tips: Racing blog ahead of Doncaster and Cheltenham

What did you make of Jonbon’s Clarence House win – and where now for the principals in that race?

The Clarence House Chase promised to be thrilling, and it delivered on that score - before, during and after - and not with the winner many people expected.

When Jonbon’s new rider, Harry Cobden took a heavy fall from Neon Moon 80 mins before the feature Grade 1 and his next booked ride was relinquished while he was being assessed by the doctor, rumours started swirling that all was not well.

The Sky Sports team had spotted James Bowen in the entrance of the weighing room in JP McManus’ silks, and it looked unlikely that Cobden was going to take the ride on last year’s winner. That was eventually confirmed, adding an extra frisson of excitement to the race.

As the highest rated by some margin, Il Etait Temps was deservedly sent off hot favourite to win but it was apparent from the early stages of the race that he wasn't enjoying underfoot conditions. When he fell, he looked a tired horse, and we suffered a nerve wracking and extensive period whilst the privacy screens were around him.

Meanwhile, Jonbon was surging to a second successive win in the race as he reeled in the improving Thistle Ask in gritty fashion to win his nineteenth race and 11th Grade 1.

As soon as we heard the news that Il Etait Temps was OK, Jonbon’s victory could be properly celebrated. What a warrior he is at the age of 10.

As far as future targets are concerned Il Etait Temps is 7/1 to win the Champion Chase, and Jonbon and Thistle Ask are 16s. Jonbon is shorter for the Ryanair Chase (6/1 second-fav), and I’d prefer to see him run in the longer race. The Ryanair makes more sense as the race he has the best chance of winning and having finished second in a Supreme, Arkle and Champion Chase it would be a shame were he never to win at a Cheltenham festival.

Who do you expect to come out on top in the Sir Gino v The New Lion clash on Saturday?

Sky Bet have Sir Gino as 2/5 favourite and The New Lion 2/1 next best. There’s not much between them at the weights, but I’d expect to see Sir Gino win. Mind you, I expected Il Etait Temps to win the Clarence House.

The New Lion is the older of the pair at seven (Sir Gino is only six) but he has work to do to beat the unbeaten favourite. The New Lion did a Constitution Hill when he fell in the Fighting Fifth and whilst his jumping is usually slick, a fall like that is less than ideal coming into a contest like this.

Poniros was the surprise winner of last season’s Triumph Hurdle and trainer Willie Mullins starts his season off here. He's an intriguing runner and the protagonists will hope he’s not a fly in the ointment.

What do you hope to see from Grey Dawning in the Cotswold Chase?

Another odds on favourite here with Grey Dawning 1/2 favourite to back up his victory in the Betfair Chase on his reappearance. Trainer Dan Skelton has taken a different route with the horse after a hard race in the Betfair Chase last season took its toll. The Gold Cup is the aim, and this should be the perfect stepping stone.

I’m even more confident of a victory for the horse given that the second-favourite is last year’s winner L’Homme Presse (3/1). I’m a fan of the letter but his trainer Venetia Williams is enduring an uncharacteristically bad run of form. At the time of writing she has sent out six individual winners this season and that’s tough for a trainer of her calibre. When horses are below form as they currently are, there’s little that can be done other than be patient. Let’s hope by the time they line up for Saturday’s contest the winners will have started to flow.

Grey Dawning’s trainer Dan Skelton is motoring along in his quest to be champion trainer for the first time, and it looks like it’ll take something unusual for him to be denied this season.

The Great Yorkshire Chase is the big race at Doncaster, who is your early fancy?

Grand Geste (Joel Parkinson and Sue Smith) and Deep Cave (Christian Williams) share 4/1 favouritism with Sky Bet at the time of writing.

The former hails from a stable enjoying an upward turn this campaign and the latter from a stable that specialises with their staying chasers. Grand Gest, like his stable, is improving and it would be no surprise to see him win. Deep Cave had his first chase starts in Britain at Bangor and Ascot in November/December and won both and is also an exciting staying prospect.

The 8/1 shot Hyland threatens to win a prestigious staying chase at some point for Nicky Henderson and Walking On Air who was formerly trained by Henderson (7/1) hasn’t threatened to win much of late but is looking reasonably handicapped on his performance in this last year. He fell at the last when delivering what could have been a winning challenge. His trainer Faye Bramley has shown she’s well capable of getting one tuned up for the big day.

Docpickedme (also 7/1) was the beneficiary of that departure and returns off just a 2lbs higher mark for trainer Richard Hobson. Josh The Boss is another 7/1 shot but he has stamina to prove on his first try at 3-miles. As a prominent racer he’s going to need to stay.

As this point and at the prices, I’m inclined to go with Walking On Air to gain compensation for last year’s unfortunate fall.

Published at 09:30 GMT on 21/01/26

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