King Under No Illusions As Edwardstone Faces Old Foe Jonbon

Alan King is excited to continue Edwardstone's journey when he locks horns with old opponent Jonbon as soon as again on Saturday as both included amongst the 6 declarations for the Betfair Ascot Chase.


The duo have actually frequently taken on over two miles through their careers, and now do battle over a brand-new distance, with Edwardstone arriving off the back of a heartwarming success in the Silviniaco Conti Chase at Kempton last month.


King stated: "The old kid seems in great form. I would have chosen somewhat better ground, however it is the method it is and we'll see how he gets on.


"It was excellent to see him win at Kempton last time and his interest and work at home is nearly as great as it has constantly been, it was to see him get his head in front again. It gave myself and the entire group a big amount of satisfaction.


"There is a lot of prize-money up for grabs and we'll see if we can get a piece. We're under no illusions about handling the two big guns so we'll see how we get on."


Jonbon has actually won 2 Melling Chases over an intermediate journey and having needed every lawn of the minimum range when notching back-to-back Clarence House Chase victories at this track last time out, is reunited with Nico de Boinville at a location where he has an impressive record.


Edwardstone rolled back the years at Kempton (Steven Paston/PA)


Edwardstone are Jonbon 12 and 10 respectively and they are taken part the line-up by another older statesman, with Paul Nicholls' 11-year-old Pic D'orhy bidding to win the race for a record third time having taken home initially reward for the last two seasons.


Dan Skelton runs Heltenham, with stablemates Etalon and Riskintheground missing out on out, with Jennie Candlish's Classic Maestro and Blow Your Wad on debut for Gary and Josh Moore finishing the line-up.