Jonbon landed the tenth Grade One among his profession as he safely retained his My Pension Knowledgeable Melling Chase crown at Aintree.
Nicky Henderson’s 4/6 favorite had come unstuck when anticipated to take the Champion Chase at Cheltenham, having to battle on for a gallant second after a nasty mistake compounded issues at first.
Solely 4 went to publish for this two-and-a-half-mile project and it didn’t take Nico de Boinville lengthy earlier than he turned up the warmth in entrance.
Willie Mullins’ El Fabiolo was considered his key rival, however when he got here to grief, Jonbon was left to see off Dan Skelton’s Protektorat to return out on prime, which he duly did, by three and 1 / 4 lengths.
A relieved Henderson – who had endured one other fall for Structure Hill on the opening day of the assembly – mentioned: “The horse is superb when he is doing that and Nico was very courageous as a result of it has been a tricky little session for all of us. For him to exit and experience him like that, that was a man who had no fears.
“That Champion Chase would not appear to work for him. It is a pity because it simply went all incorrect in Cheltenham. The beginning went incorrect because the tape actually went throughout his face, he went backwards and then you definately’re on the again foot from the phrase go.
“He proved today that he loves doing that. He likes his own space, like a lot of us, but the horse trusts Nico and Nico trusts the horse. They know each other well and it’s lovely to watch.”
Pressure – Nico de Boinville with a protracted stare earlier than Jonbon’s run within the Melling Chase
Reduction – De Boinville punches the air as Jonbon cross the road in entrance
On a possible tilt on the King George subsequent season, he mentioned: “Nothing’s impossible. At the end of last year JP (McManus) said ‘we’re a two-miler and we’ll stay at two miles for this year’, but actually we came to Aintree and went two and a half. You’d be a brave man to ride him that way over three miles, but who knows?
“He will get this two and a half properly they usually’ve gone flat out right this moment. He obtained a bit drained on the finish, however any horse would after going that fast.
“He’s won the Celebration Chase (at Sandown) twice and we’ll look at it. He did go and win after this race last year, but then he hadn’t gone to Cheltenham. We’ll see.”
In the meantime, a proud Skelton mentioned of Protektorat: “We always say before his races he will turn up for us and do his best and he has done again.
“We have tried to beat Jonbon I do not know what number of occasions now and we’re not fairly nearly as good as him, it is so simple as that – that does not imply we’re not terribly pleased with our horse.
“He always puts his best foot forward and he’s had a great year. He didn’t quite get as far up the field in the Ryanair as we’d hoped, but he’s come back in with his ears pricked and I can’t wait to do it all again next year.”
