Energumene vs Jonbon: Who beats who in this Clarence House classic?

Liam Bramall

Published: January 14, 2025

Horse racing is in Liam's blood and his biggest passion is jumps racing. He can often be found at his favourite tracks; Chepstow and Cheltenham in the Autumn when the National Hunt action kicks off. In his own words: "I'm often referred to as a walking form book, a trait which comes in handy from time to time. My proudest tipping success to date was landing a whopping 682-1 accumulator at Epsom."

Rarely do we get to see titanic clashes outside of the Cheltenham Festival on these shores but courtesy of Willie Mullins and Nicky Henderson, we could have one on our hands. Ascot hosts the Grade 1 Clarence House Chase on Saturday and both Energumene and Jonbon are set to line up. Here we take a good look at the pair and work out who the most likely winner is based on form. Have a look at our free tips page for daily content across British and Irish racing.

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Energumene or Jonbon?

Two-time Champion Chase winner Energumene made no mistake on his return after a 593-day absence at Cork last month. Willie Mullins’ 169-rated chaser is entitled to improve for the run and all being well, he could be just as good as he was before that injury.

Shishkin narrowly got the better of him in this race three years ago but he’s the complete package nowadays and his assured jumping will be a big asset.

Jonbon has been better than ever this term and the £570,000 purchase was an impressive winner of the Tingle Creek last time out. This race was moved to Cheltenham last year and Nicky Henderson’s star let himself down in the jumping department, which led to a reputation-damaging defeat.

Comfortably dispatching El Fabiolo at his beloved Sandown in April, he’s an awesome horse when at the top of his game. It’s also worth noting that Jonbon is officially rated 1lb higher than his big rival.

Best of the rest

There are only six horses entered at this stage and Edwardstone and Boothill are next in the market at 9/1 and 16/1 respectively. All the evidence suggests Jonbon has those two covered and however and they’re hard to fancy. Libberty Hunter is the potential improver but this is a very tricky assignment.

Verdict

Jumping could be the difference maker here and historically speaking, Energumene has the edge on that front. Mullins’ 11-year-old should improve for his most recent effort and consequently gets the nod.

Energumene

Analysis

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