El Fabiolo favourite after Jonbon scare at Warwick

Nicky Henderson’s charge, sent off at 1/16 to beat sole rival Calico, approached the first fence on the backstretch led by Harry Skelton’s mount.

Aidan Coleman pushed Jonbon back into the head-off affairs, jumping penultimate and coping on walk-in to score by five-and-a-half lengths, but it was expected to be a lot easier than it was.

Sky Bet and Betfair both now have El Fabiolo as their 11/10 leader from 15/8 for Sporting Life Arkle with Jonbon on 2/1 from 5/4.

At Newbury, the winning coach said: “I’ll take a positive view of it. He had such easy races that he was surprised when the other horse charged him like that. He just kind of shook his head and eventually got there It won’t hurt him.

“He hasn’t had a race since Aintree last year. That was his preparation and I’ll see what Aidan and AP who’s up there have to say on that.”

Coleman said: “It’s a pre-season run and we knew he had a lot to do. I started him at school the other morning and he started school very well, but he was very fresh. He jumped great there again and I felt pretty comfortable going to that fence there (down the backstretch).

“I cantered well and didn’t want to push myself too hard considering it’s a test. Harry lit his and gave him wings, and while I made no mistake, Calico caught on and I just chased after from there.

“I was always pretty confident out of three quarters of a mile. I hit the next three fences squarely and then put it to bed well. He was a bit rusty but he won it nicely so I’m happy with that.”

Asked if Jonbon jumped straight during today’s race, Coleman, who is hoping Jonbon can become the fifth Cheltenham Festival winner of his career and his first since Put The Kettle On in the 2021 Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase, added : “He only did it once and it often happens at that fence in front of the grandstands when they go into a corner. It probably looked a little worse than it was, but he’s a very clever and accurate jumper. It’s exactly the same (like Haydock last year) that we come here with stuff to work on.

“He wasn’t specifically trained for it – he was ready to go and we’ve been really nice to him, but at the same time it’s a test for the Arkle and that’s why we’re here. It was the same last year warming up for Cheltenham at Haydock Park. But he is doing well on this ground and we are very happy with him.”

Sir Anthony McCoy, representing owner JP McManus, said: “It was well and good that he won. They’re all competitors in the race and we’ll have to see. He is trained by a man who knows more about horse training than I do. He was happy with it and one could imagine that he is looking for March and not today. I’d say he was just about ready to walk and looked rusty, that’s all. The Arkle is in March and not today.

“Nicky is good at training horses like this. He’s not going to win the Arkle by watching, is he? But that’s not the Arkle. I wasn’t worried when I watched it, and he actually ended up winning quite well. Today he will have learned a little from it.

“The Arkle will be different and it needs to be sharper, but we’ll let the coach do his thing. I would think more about his runs earlier in the year (referring to the Arkle) than today’s run. March is what he is trained for.”

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