Jonbon primed to sign off his season in familiar fashion Jonbon returns to his beloved Sandown on Saturday looking to win the bet365 Celebration Chase for a third time – and with it an incredible 13th Grade One in total. Beaten by current champion chaser Il Etait Temps 12 months ago when bidding for a hat-trick, for the first time in his career the 10-year-old has lost more races than he has won during the season. Nevertheless, Nicky Henderson’s charge has still claimed two Grade Ones at the Ascot, the latter over two miles and five furlongs which convinced connections to run in the Ryanair at Cheltenham where he finished second. Back at two miles Henderson admits he might prefer further these days, but he has won five of his seven career outings at the Esher track. Veteran Performer Bids For Emotional Sandown Farewell “It’s his annual goodbye for the season,” Henderson told Racing TV. “He did get beaten in it last year having won it the previous two. “He’s in good form. We missed Aintree this year on purpose as like a lot of them they had quite hard races at Cheltenham and despite a four-week break I just felt that another two weeks was going to help. “I hope I’m right, it seems right. He is happier going a little bit more than two miles these days, but he loves Sandown.” Dan Skelton has a very strong hand in Thistle Ask, whose incredible winning run was ended by Jonbon in the Clarence House, and Mirabad, a surprise Grade One winner at Aintree but still a novice. “The pair of them have improved a remarkable amount this season. You could write a story about Thistle Ask, he’s gone from 115 to 160,” said Skelton. “He had a very hard race when he took on Jonbon in the Clarence House and took a month to get over it, but the ground will be very much in his favour and he’s going to be a fresh horse so you’d have to give him a chance. “Cheltenham was never in my mind for him, but the decision was taken out of our hands in the end as he wasn’t quite at his best. There’s no two-mile race at Aintree and he’s at his best right-handed anyway. “They’ve met once and Jonbon has won once. Jonbon has achieved more and it’s going to be hard to beat him, but I think if we ever could, it’s going to be on this type of ground on Saturday. “Mirabad has just been remarkable, he does have a bit to find and is technically still a novice, but he’s been remarkable and is in very good form. “He clearly likes the ground and he likes his new run style, being held up, so we thought the iron is currently hot so we may as well strike.”
