They have met twice already, and the third will settle the score ahead of the Cheltenham Festival. El Fabiolo and Jonbon may have scared off the majority of the opposition, but the spectacle will not be diminished.
Below, Joe Napier provides the ‘Tale of the Tape’ for their third match, detailing their careers to date, head-to-head record, and anything else which will affect which horse you side with for this weekend’s Clarence House Chase at Ascot.
The History
We should probably start expecting this every two years. 2022 gave us Henderson-Mullins part one with Shishkin and Energumene, and maybe 2026 will be Jeriko Du Reponet vs Mystical Power.
The original clash was one to savour and was run in similar circumstances to this season’s renewal. Energumene and Shishkin also faced just two rivals pitched above their grade, as El Fabiolo and Jonbon are set to, while once again they represent the clear top two in the Champion Chase market.
In relation to the Clarence House, it is, of course, 1-0 Henderson after Shishkin’s pulsating victory over Energumene. There is revenge on the table for Mullins and El Fabiolo then, though it is obviously worth remembering that defeat in this race hardly stopped Energumene from becoming one of the great 2m chasers of modern times.
Career Records
Excluding his form in France prior to joining Willie Mullins, El Fabiolo has been almost flawless. He has won seven of his eight starts, his sole defeat coming in a Grade 1 novice hurdle on just his second start for the yard.
More pertinently, he is unbeaten over fences in five starts to date, having never shirked a serious rival. It seems bizarre now, but when he lined up in the Irish Arkle last season, he was only the third most fancied of the Mullins inmates behind Appreciate It and Dysart Dynamo. Success there has preceded three further victories at Graded level, all as a short-priced favourite, with two of those coming in the Arkle at Cheltenham and the Barberstown Castle Novice Chase at Punchestown.
Apart from his point-to-point, Jonbon has always been in the care of Nicky Henderson. He boasts the greater experience, with 14 runs under rules and just two defeats. One each of those came over hurdles and fences, with his defeat in the Supreme handed out in destructive fashion by Constitution Hill.
With that stellar rival destined for a career over the smaller obstacles, Jonbon has excelled more over fences. He has already raced eight times, with the Arkle providing his only defeat in that time. Even as a novice, he took apart the Grade 1 Celebration Chase in open company, and has added two further victories so far this term.
Head to Head
You have read above that, between them, El Fabiolo and Jonbon have suffered just three defeats in total. Two of those came against each other, with the head-to-head delicately poised at 1-1.
Jonbon got the better of El Fabiolo as a novice hurdler at Aintree having had the benefit of far greater experience throughout that season. The neck margin always felt reversible further down the line, and so it proved.
Though their record reads one apiece, you can arguably add a half-point to El Fabiolo’s total for having defeated his rival over fences. The fear for fans of the McManus gold and green is that Simon Munir and Isaac Souede’s seven-year-old turned it into a procession at Cheltenham, scoring by 5½ lengths.
What They’ve Done Since
Jonbon concluded his novice season with that aforementioned success in the Grade 1 Celebration Chase. Against more seasoned opposition, he was a comfortable winner, pulling 3¾ lengths clear of Captain Guinness, and more than 18 lengths clear of the third.
He was also out twice prior to Christmas this term. The first hinted at big things to come, when pulling almost ten lengths clear of multiple Grade 1 winner Edwardstone in the Grade 2 Shloer Chase. If that was the beauty, then his second run proved his brawn, as he knuckled down to beat the same rival in a heavy ground edition of the Tingle Creek by 2¾ lengths. That was his first encounter with such conditions.
El Fabiolo had a kinder end to his season with his last Grade 1 novice success at Punchestown, defeating two stablemates he had already beaten twice, plus 40/1 chance Indiana Jones. His reappearance in the Grade 2 Hilly Way, the race always slated for Energumene on his comeback, may have been his first in open company, but you would hardly have known by the manner in which he dispatched his rivals.
Fil Dor was left nearly five lengths behind in receipt of 10lb. He had given El Fabiolo’s subsequent Grade 1 winning stablemate Dinoblue a serious race on his seasonal return, so that form stacks up. He is far lighter on runs than Jonbon overall, but that single experience for the season will have him primed for this as a perfect build up for the Festival.
Jumping
While Shishkin and Energumene came into this race with very few doubts about their jumping (strange as that may seem now), both El Fabiolo and Jonbon have come in for questioning in this respect. The former, in particular, has often taken some chances.
In every single chase start, he has multiple in-running comments of “not fluent” or “mistake”, and his rangy, galloping style of racing does often give the impression of clumsiness. Ultimately, he is a very stocky individual, so is built to withstand any jumping mistakes he may make. Yet, while undoubtedly full of ability, he may find one too many errors costs him at the top level soon.
Jonbon, meanwhile, made an almost faultless start to life over fences, as so many of Henderson’s star novice chasers do. However, at higher levels, he has adjusted either left or right at times and been prone to some scruffy leaps. All told, he is far less prone to fault than his rival though, which he will likely have to capitalise on.
A Word on the Others
The roles of First Flow and Amoola Gold in 2024 are played by two suitably similar types. Elixir De Nutz can play the first-named as a reliable, experienced performer in terrific form who will do his best to keep tabs. Unexpected Party, on the other hand, is the Dan Skelton trained no-hoper but for accidents.
Neither has any form to match the top two and even in the race between the outsiders, it looks a one-way match in favour of Elixir De Nutz for third.
Verdict
Though Jonbon has shaped like he has improved so far this season, with his mettle admirably tested at Sandown, there is not enough evidence to suggest he can turn the tables on EL FABIOLO. Willie Mullins’ charge can make it 2-1 in their private battle having returned in fine fettle at Cork as long as he minimises the errors.
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