Warwick’s Virgin Bet Kingmaker Novices’ Chase remains the first preference for Jonbon at the weekend, but Nicky Henderson could yet also give his star novice a Newbury entry.
The seven-year-old is unbeaten in two starts over fences so far, accounting for Monmiral by seven lengths on his chasing debut at Warwick before coasting to Grade One glory in the Henry VIII Novices’ Chase at Sandown in December.
Jonbon is the ante-post favourite for next month’s Arkle at the Cheltenham Festival, and while Henderson still favours sticking to novice company for his prep he has mentioned Newbury’s Game Spirit Chase in dispatches.
Jonbon made his chasing bow at Warwick (David Davies/PA)
He said: “I might put him in the Game Spirit at Newbury, but at the moment the plan remains to go to Warwick. That has been the plan all along. Everything has been great since Sandown and he is in super form.
“He schooled on Thursday and he has been great. Aidan (Coleman) will come and give him another pop over fences this week, but he is having a good time.
“He just wants one more run before Cheltenham and this fits perfectly. He was silky smooth at Sandown the last day. He jumped, he galloped and he showed he has gears.”
The Willie Mullins-trained El Fabiolo staked his own Arkle claims with victory in the Irish version at Leopardstown on Saturday and given there was only a neck between the pair when they clashed in last season’s Top Novices’ Hurdle at Aintree, Henderson is anticipating another titanic tussle next month.
Jonbon edged out El Fabiolo at Aintree (Nigel French/PA)
Henderson said: “That was a good race in Ireland (Irish Arkle) and El Fabiolo was only a neck behind Jonbon at Aintree last season.
“That is good form in Ireland and the danger to Jonbon in the Arkle was always going to come out of that race and it certainly has. El Fabiolo has beaten three good horses there in Banbridge, Appreciate It, and Dysart Dynamo.
“We just want Jonbon to have a nice time at Warwick to put himself right for Cheltenham.
“There is a little bit of room for this race to come and put him where we want him for Cheltenham.”
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Nicky Henderson expects to have a clearer idea of who will prove the main danger to Constitution Hill in the Champion Hurdle after this weekend’s Dublin Racing Festival.
Constitution Hill is unbeaten under rules, making light work of a string of Grade One races when winning by facile margins, with the six-year-old a hot favourite at the Cheltenham Festival in March.
Henry de Bromhead’s Honeysuckle has dominated the contest in the past three seasons but after losing her undefeated record to Teahupoo at Fairyhouse in December, she is on a redemption mission as she clashes with Willie Mullins’ State Man in Irish Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown on Sunday.
Constitution Hill winning at the Cheltenham Festival last year (Mike Egerton/PA)
Henderson expects the contest to provide a better picture of the Champion Hurdle field and further inform his decision on where to send Epatante, winner of the race in 2020 before being placed behind Honeysuckle for the past two years.
Epatante was well beaten by Constitution Hill in both the Fighting Fifth and the Christmas Hurdle, but landed a Grade Two mares’ event at Doncaster by six and a half lengths last week.
Speaking to Sky Sports Racing, Henderson said of Constitution Hill: “The only thing that’s really happened since the Christmas Hurdle that would encourage you is that Epatante, who has been running round and finishing quite a way behind him on the last two occasions, comes out and, admittedly against much, much weaker opposition, but in a Grade Two hurdle last Saturday she won as far as she liked.
“That actually proves that Constitution Hill has been beating something, that’s about the only thing that has changed since Christmas.
“Epatante will go for the Mares’ Hurdle or the Champion Hurdle, I haven’t spoken much to JP (McManus, owner) about that but she proved she stayed two and a half (miles) and won really nicely at Aintree last year.
Epatante at Doncaster (Richard Sellers/PA)
“We’ll see what JP wants to do, you’ve got Epatante there as a back up if Constitution needs a back up. That’s going to be very interesting, to see what happens this weekend and see how they all get on.
“Honeysuckle and Willie’s horse (State Man) will tell us quite a lot and I think the decision on Epatante will probably be made as a result of what we see there.”
Henderson is also expecting the Arkle field to take shape after the Dublin Racing Festival, with the current favourite Jonbon set to head to Warwick for the Grade Two Kingmaker before preparing for the Festival in March.
Jonbon heads the Arkle market (Steven Paston/PA)
“Jonbon is in good form, he worked yesterday and will school tomorrow,” he said.
“He’s on course for Warwick, he’s in great shape actually. He just wants one more run, he’s had a nice freshen up since the Henry VIII and hopefully this will put him right for the Arkle.
“We will be watching quite carefully, the good thing is that Constitution Hill and Jonbon don’t have televisions in their boxes so they won’t know what’s going on!”
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Nicky Henderson is set to chart a direct route to Cheltenham with Unibet Champion Hurdle favourite Constitution Hill.
The six-year-old is the 1-5 market leader for the Festival highlight in March after another wide-margin success in the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton on Boxing Day, routing stablemate Epatante by 17 lengths – an increase of five lengths on his Fighting Fifth verdict over the crack mare.
Henderson had mentioned the Champion Hurdle Trial at Haydock on January 21 as a possible stopping point for his star hurdler, while the Irish Champion Hurdle takes place at Leopardstown on February 5. But neither option looks likely now.
The Seven Barrows handler would have been keen to run at Cheltenham had the International Hurdle that was originally scheduled for December 10 been resurrected, but that is not a possibility, despite Henderson raising the idea.
He told Nick Luck’s Daily Podcast: “We’ve ummed and ahhed a fair bit, I did have what I thought was quite a bright idea but it doesn’t quite come off and I can understand why, but I did sort of enquire whether we might have the International Hurdle that was abandoned rescheduled on Trials Day at Cheltenham.
“If that had been possible I would have gone there with him, but I really don’t like the idea of Haydock and so I think almost certainly Constitution Hill will not run again before Cheltenham.
“He’s obviously very good fresh, he was very good the first time this year in the Fighting Fifth. Last year we went from the Tolworth to Cheltenham and you couldn’t have had him any better so I really don’t see any point, there’s nothing to be gained.
“I might have an open day or something so people can come and see him – I would have thought that was a possibility.”
Epatante is a previous Champion Hurdle winner (David Davies/PA)
Epatante won the Champion Hurdle in 2020 and finished third and second to Honeysuckle in subsequent renewals, but having been comprehensively beaten twice by Constitution Hill, her future plans have yet to be decided – with similar comments applied to Relkeel Hurdle third First Street.
Henderson added: “We haven’t discussed (Cheltenham) with Epatante yet, we will see what she does. First Street is a difficult one – I mean where does he go? He’s on the verge of it, but he didn’t stay two and a half on that ground on the weekend. You would enter him anyway. He’s a very decent horse.”
Seven Barrows houses the Relkeel victor Marie’s Rock, who is on course to defend her Mares’ Hurdle title at the Festival before a potential step up to three miles in the Liverpool Hurdle at Aintree.
Marie’s Rock won the Relkeel on New Year’s Day (David Davies/PA)
Henderson said: “What I would really like to do with her is go to Cheltenham, I would love her to defend her title, and then I would seriously think about going to Aintree and trying her over three.
“We’ve always talked about it and everything did go swimmingly well, you find Constitution Hill coming into the the two-and-a-half-mile at Aintree.
“Are we tempted to put her in the Stayers’ (at Cheltenham)? The answer is probably no, we would stick to the Mares’ and then (look at Aintree) not just because of Constitution Hill, but because we’ve genuinely always discussed whether she would stay three.”
Jonbon will head to Warwick for his Festival prep (Steven Paston/PA)
Jonbon was 22 lengths behind Constitution Hill when second in the Supreme last season, but has made a seamless switch to fences this campaign, cruising to victory on his chasing bow at Warwick before sealing a ready eight-length verdict upped to Grade One level at Sandown at the beginning of December.
A Warwick return on February 11 is now his agenda.
Henderson said: “Jonbon will go to the Kingmaker at Warwick which is the only race he can run in really. He’s been round there once and it’s a good jumping test – I think that would do him good.”
Former two-mile star Shishkin is set to step up in trip at Kempton later this month after a disappointing return in the Tingle Creek, with Henderson not even entering him for the Champion Chase at Cheltenham, instead opting to put him in the two-and-a-half-mile Ryanair Chase, plus the three-and-a-quarter-mile Cheltenham Gold Cup.
He added: “The plan at the moment is to go to Kempton on Saturday week for the Silviniaco Conti over two and a half miles.”
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