Elixir De Nutz jolts Jonbon bandwagon off trailblazing path in Tote Ten to Follow

The Clarence House Chase might have looked like a penalty kick for Jonbon but, as we all know, even the best can take a misstep and so it was with the horse whose victories at Sandown and Cheltenham’s November meeting had hoisted him to the top of the points scorers in the Tote Ten to Follow competition and who is a mainstay of many teams.

With El Fabiolo the other constant in the squads of the best-performing teams, the original Clarence House at Ascot had looked a formality for consolidating positions at the top of the table.

The rescheduled version at Cheltenham without Isaac Souede and Simon Munir’s star provided a rather different result as Jonbon’s jumping errors left him with nothing in the tank to take him past Elixir De Nutz. The winner picks up 54.90 points and moves into second on the list of leading scorers with 72.50, right on the heels of Jonbon, who collects 1.30 place points, enough to keep his nose in front in this race with a total of 74.05. 

The difference in impact on the leaderboard is huge, though, with a third of all players having Jonbon in their squads, while just 0.1 per cent include Elixir De Nutz.

Meanwhile, Capodanno collects 26.40 points for his victory over The Real Whacker in the Cotswold Chase and moves into 14th in the table of leading horses with 44.20.  

Others to make an impression are Ginny’s Destiny, who goes into tenth on 48.94 points after taking 17.30 for Cheltenham success, while Rossington Main Hurdle winner Jeriko Du Reponet is just behind him in 11th on 47.74.

Annual Invictus (37.00 points, 19th place) and Sir Gino (36.20 points, 21st place) also hit the mark but with few players cheering them on. Annual Invictus, along with Ginny’s Destiny, failed to catch the eye of a single competition entrant.

Latest standings

LEADING HORSES
1 Jonbon 66.6% 74.05 points
2 Elixir De Nutz 0.1% 72.50
2 Datsalrightgino 0.3% 71.10
3 Hewick 0.4% 68.50
4 Nassalam 0.1% 63.50
5 Royale Pagaille 1.6% 56.00
6 Readin Tommy Wrong 0.1% 54.50
7 Galopin Des Champs 69.7% 53.80
8 State Man 50.7% 52.50
9 Coko Beach 0.2% 46.80
10 Ginny's Destiny 0% 48.94

LEADING TEAMS
1 Irish Crystal 2 378.85 points
2 Lucky Penny 3 375.15
3 Fitz28 374.58
4 Fitz14 373.67
5 Fitz129 373.67
6 Arkle 373.47
7 More letters than numbers 16 373.37
8 Lucky4 372.33
9 Mystery Angel 371.67
10 joeywhite81 370.19

LEADER'S STABLE - Irish Crystal 2  
Jonbon 74.05 points
Datsalrightgino 71.10
Galopin Des Champs 53.80
State Man 52.50
Fastorslow 34.20
Constitution Hill 27.20
Bravemansgame 25.70
El Fabiolo 22.20
Mahler Mission 14.40
Protektorat 3.70

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