AFTER what was a quiet week, I was hopeful that I could rely on Jonbon to provide some revelatory data in the Betfair Ascot Chase. What we got instead was Jonbon doing Jonbon things in defeating Pic D’Orhy, but this performance does beg the question as to why he has never been tried at three miles.

He jumped slightly better than has been the case in the past, recording a Race IQ jump Index of 7.5, with his lifetime score being 7.0. He was briefly outpaced through F18 before staying on well in the final quarter mile to record a Finishing Speed Percentage of 101.45%, suggesting that the race was evenly run and that he saw the trip out strongly to record a 12th Grade 1 success.