What can Jonbon do this season to emulate some of the great chasers

By Simon Holt

Horse Racing

Sat November 15, 2025 · 1M ago

Simon Holt assesses the remarkable Jonbon and ponders how Nicky Henderson's horse could set about emulating some star names that came before him.

Many trainers will have been singing in the rain this week ahead of the forthcoming three-day Cheltenham November meeting and, hopefully, this will precipitate an improvement in the jumps action from now on following a dismally dry (in more ways than one) start to the season.

Every show needs a star and Jonbon is the headline act on Friday when he attempts to win the Shloer Chase for the third year running ahead of a similar assault on the Tingle Creek next month.

With 17 wins from 22 races over hurdles and fences - and second on five occasions - there can't have been many more consistent horses in recent years, nor more talented.

Indeed, Jonbon's enthusiasm is a joy to watch and, at the age of nine turning ten on New Year's Day, he is theoretically still in his prime.

While connections seem disinclined to change targets this season, he will reappear having been readily outpaced by Il Etait Temps in Sandown's (two mile) Celebration Chase in April whereas, in winning his second Melling Chase at Aintree previously, Jonbon had looked much more comfortable over the longer distance of two-and-a-half miles.

Beaten three times at the Cheltenham Festival over the minimum trip and now one year older, it's possible that the Ryanair Chase will be his target this time but there is one other enticing possibility before then and that would be a crack at the King George.

Yes, Jonbon would be trying three miles for the first time, but last year's winner Banbridge was relatively new to the trip, and the way he sees out two-and-a-half suggests it is well worth a go at what is probably the ideal stage of his career to be a little adventurous and try something different.

The podcast team preview Cheltenham's November Meeting

Given that his name appears in the ante-post lists for Kempton, this is hardly an original thought but Jonbon's participation would be fascinating.

In any case, it’s very likely that horses are effective over a much wider range of distances than is often supposed, and it was interesting to read a quote from the sagely Venetia Williams following the victory of Djelo in the three mile Charlie Hall Chase earlier in the month.

Suggesting Djelo would now go to the Peterborough Chase which he won last year, Williams said: “I know it’s a step back in trip but there’s no reason why he can’t be so effective. These good horses don’t usually have a specific distance."

Personally, I don’t think that is true of all 'good horses' and not all trainers will agree either, but if you think about smart two-milers like One Man, Kauto Star, Edredon Bleu and, of course, Desert Orchid who all won the King George, it is equally incorrect to become too dogmatic about distance.

No one knows the limits of a horse’s stamina until it is tested.

One Man was a Champion Chase winner who won the King George twice (in the same year) over a bare three miles but couldn't get up the Cheltenham hill at the end of three-and-a-quarter miles in two Gold Cups.

Kauto Star was so classy that he had the speed to win a Tingle Creek before becoming the greatest staying chaser since Arkle while Henrietta Knight’s gamble to run two mile Champion Chaser Edredon Bleu in the King George paid off gloriously.

As for Desert Orchid, who won from two miles in the Tingle Creek to over three-and-a-half miles in the Whitbread and Irish Grand National (along with four King Georges and a famous Gold Cup triumph), he was a freak.

But his extraordinary versatility may have remained undetected were it not for trainer David Elsworth's open-minded approach.

Such a policy is rarely seen in the campaigning of the top jumping horses these days who, equally, tend to run a lot less often with the result that few resonate in the hearts of jumping fans compared to the aforementioned warriors.

If they could win a King George, why not Jonbon especially as last season's evidence suggested he might have lost a yard of pace?

He should win on Friday but this could be the season to step up and give him the chance to emulate some of the greats.

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