'Today was the best we’ve seen him' - JPR One lands Lightning after chaotic first-fence collision wipes out leading contender

Joe Tizzard was surprisingly relaxed after JPR One escaped a chaotic incident at the first fence before stamping his class on the Lightning Novices’ Chase with a performance that prompted his Arkle odds to shorten.

While Tizzard described the half-length victory as a “comfortable watch”, the emotion of owner John Romans could hardly have been more different. He said it was “very nerve-racking”, a sentiment shared by his jockey Brendan Powell after the left-jumping, runner-up Matata cannoned into Master Chewy and led to the fall of 9-4 favourite Djelo at the first fence.

Undeterred, Matata cut out the early running until he was joined by the strong-travelling JPR One at the eighth fence. Powell sailed into a commanding lead after the second-last and, although the early front-runner battled to erode the deficit to half a length, victory always looked assured.

“It was very nerve-racking,” said Romans, who has hit the big time before with the likes of Elegant Escape. “He’s such a high-quality horse that you feel it at every jump. This one’s quite special. He’s one that I own on my own, it’s my initials, JPR, he’s got a good following and it’s nice when he does well. 

“I think Joe’s talking about the Arkle and I see he’s gone down from 50-1 to 16-1. I don't back my own horses but I'd never say never."

JPR One was on the verge of landing a breezy success at Cheltenham in November before stumbling and unseating Powell at the final fence, a rare mistake for the generally surefooted jumper, and the rider said the pair were fortunate not to be "wiped out" in the melee at the first.

Tizzard cut a more relaxed figure and is not running scared of Marine Nationale in the Arkle, a race won by Shishkin after he took the Lightning in 2021. 

The trainer said: "Today was the best we’ve seen him and it was quite a comfortable watch because he travelled great and he’s got a fair bit about him on his day.

"We’ve always held him in really high regard. Had he not had that stumble at Cheltenham, he was going to look majorly impressive, and the ground took its toll in the Henry VIII at Sandown.

"He’s only a novice for one year and he’s beaten the best of the English novices today, so we’ll have a crack at it." 

How the chaos unfolded at the first fence

The runners head to the first, with Matata on the left and Djelo on the right

Matata starts to shift across to his left as he approaches the first fence

Matata jumps violently to his left across JPR One and Master Chewy

Matata collides with Djelo in the air, knocking Charlie Deutsch from the saddle

Djelo hampers Master Chewy after the collision

Master Chewy is left trailing in last place, while Djelo gets up unscathed

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