A victory at the festival is the only notable omission from Jonbon’s otherwise stellar racing record, and he is a strong favourite to finally make it into the winner’s enclosure when he lines up for the Queen Mother Champion Chase on Wednesday.
With just three defeats in 20 career starts all of them at Cheltenham Jonbon has often found the festival a challenging venue. However, his emphatic victory in the Shloer Chase over the same track and trip in November suggests that this time could be different. On ratings, he holds a clear advantage over his rivals.
His form was further bolstered by a convincing win against Energumene at Ascot in January. Energumene, a previous winner of this race in both 2022 and 2023, was unable to match Jonbon’s strength. While Marine Nationale, the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle winner in 2023, presents an interesting challenge, his performances over fences so far suggest he would need to make a significant improvement to threaten Jonbon’s dominance in this contest.
The action on day two of the festival begins with a novice hurdle at 1.20, where another Willie Mullins-trained favourite, Final Demand, is expected to lead the way. Like Tuesday’s Supreme Novices’ Hurdle winner Kopek Des Bordes, Final Demand surged in the betting after a dominant win at the Dublin Racing Festival in February. While The New Lion and The Yellow Clay are both unbeaten over hurdles and present worthy opposition, The New Lion’s Challow Hurdle win may not have been as strong as it appeared, and The Yellow Clay has shown his best form on much softer ground.
At 2.00, Ballyburn is a strong contender in the second Grade One novice chase, following his impressive performance over two miles and five furlongs at the Dublin Racing Festival. He was in contention at the last but pulled clear with every stride to the line, suggesting that this step up to three miles should bring further improvement.
The Coral Cup at 2.40 presents a daunting challenge with a field of 26 runners. Among the leading contenders are Be Aware, Impose Toi, and Bunting. However, at an appealing price of around 14-1, Beat The Bat could be a strong contender. Having run an excellent race as a novice at Cheltenham in December 2023 and showing promise with a late charge in the William Hill Handicap Hurdle at Newbury, he looks primed to improve with a return to this trip.
The 3.20 event marks a return to handicap conditions for the festival’s cross-country race. Stumptown, a comfortable winner over the same course and distance in December, looks well-placed to follow up on that success despite carrying an 8lb higher mark.
At 4.40, Dan Skelton’s expertise in preparing runners for festival handicaps is well known, and his charge, Unexpected Party, has a strong chance of repeating last year’s victory. Running off a 6lb higher mark, he could follow in the footsteps of stablemate Langer Dan, who secured back-to-back wins in the Coral Cup.
The festival’s final race of the day, the Bumper at 5.20, sees Willie Mullins fielding a strong team, including the well-fancied Copacabana. However, with just one favourite winning in the last eight runnings, unbeaten Bambino Fever, ridden by Jody Townend, could be an interesting alternative at around 8-1 for a potential minor upset.
