Last season's race

• Winner: Jonbon
• Jockey: Nico de Boinville
• Trainer: Nicky J Henderson
• Owner: Mr John P McManus
• Age: 9 Weight: 11st 10lbs
• Starting Price: 4/6
• Season Form Figures: 1112
• Previous Best: 1st - BetMGM Clarence House Chase (Grade 1), Ascot (January 2025)

By Paul Jones

This boasts a roll of honour that is the who’s who of 2m-2m4f chasers since its inception, including 11 individual winners of the Queen Mother Champion Chase, plus subsequent Gold Cup winner Don Cossack won this when beating a subsequent King George winner in Cue Card.

Just three winners this century in Fadalko, Fox Norton and Pic D’Orhy were breaking their duck in Grade 1 company. In fact, 16 of the last 22 winners had all won a Grade 1 race earlier that same season, so it’s class all the way.

First run in 1991, only five winners did not run at the Cheltenham Festival. The quintet that bypassed Cheltenham were Blazing Walker in the inaugural running, the Irish-trained mare Opera Hat, Fakir D’Oudairies, Pic D’Orhy and Jonbon, though the latter-named was set to contest the Champion Chase until being withdrawn due to a virus in the stable, so that wasn’t by design.

Fakir D’Oudairies started favourite when he won the 2021 and 2002 runnings and again in 2023 when finishing runner-up to the second-favourite Pic D’Orhy before Jonbon justified favouritism for the last two runnings, so over the last 31 years one of the front two in the market has collected on 20 occasions.

The Champion Chase and Ryanair have been the key guides. Half of the last 30 winners posted a top-three finish in the Champion Chase in which Il Est Temps beat Libberty Hunter and L’Eau Du Sud whereas the Ryanair has featured seven winners since it was first run 21 years ago.

Top of the shop outside of the Cheltenham Festival has been the Tingle Creek Chase won by Il Etait Temps from Jonbon, having featured 12 of the last 29 winners but Ascot form has also come to the fore recently. For example, five of the last 18 winners either won or finished second in the Ascot Chase back in February won by Jonbon beating Pic D’Orhy and five of the last 14 winners contested the Clarence House Chase also won by Jonbon. In addition, Albertas Run and Master Minded both completed the 1965 Chase-Melling Chase double up in the last 11 years also won this season by Jango Baie from Gidleigh Park.

Perhaps the most telling stat is that 23 of the 34 winners had won or placed at this three-day fixture before and seven of those were successfully defending their Melling Chase title, which bodes well for Jonbon who finished second behind Heart Wood in the Ryanair. He will be the first three-time winner if he can complete the hat-trick.

Front-runners have an excellent record in other chase races on the Mildmay Course at this meeting, so it is with some surprise to note that until Min in 2019, no Melling Chase winner had ever successfully made all the running.