Nicky Henderson thrilled with Jonbon's jumping in Shloer Chase win at Cheltenham

It was a welcome return to winning ways for Nicky Henderson’s favourite, who lost just once in five outings last season.

“I think his jumping was as good as I’ve ever seen, which is great,” said Henderson.

“He looks to have really enjoyed himself, I suspect he’ll tell me (De Boinville) that he had a good blow between the last two, I’d expect him to.

“We’ve got a few weeks to the Tingle Creek and that would be the perfect prep, I’d say, but it’s not a prep, it’s a race we want to win!

“That was ideal. I thought he looked awfully big in the pre-parade ring but it’s funny when you see them here and you’re used to looking at them at home.

“That was great, it’s a job done. It’s just a lovely race for him and it takes us on to where we’re trying to go.

“You won’t see a better round of jumping, he could make the odd mistake but he was foot-perfect there.

“You could go short, you could go long. If you asked him a question, you got the answer, that was really good.”

On future plans and the decision to stick at two miles, Henderson added: “Like a lot of these horses, as they get older, they’re almost certain to get a bit further. He did at Aintree, that was two and a half miles, that was no problem.

“Of course, he’ll get further but we said at the start of the season, we are a two-miler and we’ll stay at two miles.

“You’ve got to be positive about where you’re going to go, we haven’t made any other entries for him. It will be the Tingle Creek, all being well, then the Clarence House and the normal route I suspect. I’d be surprised if we vary it.”