The November Meeting at Cheltenham gets under way with Friday's Countryside Day, when the feature race is the £100,000 Shloer Chase.
A quartet of runners have been declared for the two-mile highlight headed by Jonbon, who is bidding to become its first three-time winner following victories in 2023 and 2024.
One of Jonbon’s three rivals in Friday’s line-up is Mighty Bandit. Successful twice on the Flat and once over hurdles, the six-year-old showed a very progressive profile when sent over fences last season. Following a 50/1 second on his chasing debut at Newbury in November, he then went on to capture three handicap chases, comfortably defeating more seasoned opposition back at Newbury and twice at Doncaster. He ended the 2025/26 campaign stepped up to Grade One company, when he ran with considerable credit to finish a close fourth in the Hallgarten & Novum Wines Maghull Novices' Chase at Aintree’s Randox Grand National Festival in April.
Champion jockey Sean Bowen takes the ride on the son of Order Of St George on Friday.
His trainer, Upper Lambourn-based Warren Greatrex, said: "All has been good with Mighty Bandit over the summer. It was the first time he’s really had a holiday, because he’s normally been running on the Flat. He’s done well for the summer break and a rest – he seems in good order.
“Obviously we are going into open company. We know it’s a tall order, but with his rating he either goes into handicaps with top weight, and he’s not the biggest. He also likes a small field, which he will get on Friday. I am under no illusion it will be tough, but we will start off at Cheltenham and then see where we go from there.
“He stayed on extremely strongly at Aintree. He had had a long season and been running on the Flat as well, so maybe he just wasn’t quite at his best that day. To be fair, he then got hampered three out but the way he stayed on was great and he wasn’t beaten far by some very good horses. It was a good run, but I don’t think he was probably as good as he was in the runs before that.
“He is fit and ready to go on Friday. He will probably come on a bit for it, but he’s had an away day and we go there hopeful. He has won an all types of ground and so I don’t think that he is ground dependent."
Shloer Chase - Paddy Power: 8/11 Jonbon, 3 Gidleigh Park, 11/2 Saint Segal, 10 Mighty Bandit.
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