Ladbrokes 1965 Chase

Grade 2, Ascot 13:30
£70,000 guaranteed,
4yo plus,
2m 5f 8y, Class 1  
Saturday 22nd November 2025

BetPlay

1 Jango Baie 9/4F
2 Gidleigh Park 11/4
3 Pic D'Orhy 7/2
5 ran Distances: 9l, 27l, 17l
Time: 5m 16.39s (fast by 0.11s)

Jango Baie announced himself as a serious player for the King George VI Chase with a performance that grew in authority the further they went. Sent off the 9-4 favourite despite the usual early-season caveat surrounding Nicky Henderson’s string, Nico de Boinville was happy to let others make the running, easing his mount into a steady rhythm as a high-class field began to sort itself out.

The opening mile had its own intrigue, Gidleigh Park eventually easing to the front after an early dispute, with Il Est Francais and the admirable dual winner Pic D’Orhy keeping watch just behind. When the pressure began to build, Il Est Francais was the first to wilt, fading quickly once the taps were turned on. De Boinville, by contrast, had been biding his time, quietly edging Jango Baie into a stalking position that suggested the only unknown was the margin. Turning for home the question was answered swiftly enough: the six-year-old lengthened with purpose and cleared right away, ultimately winning by nine emphatic lengths. Gidleigh Park, brave but well held, filled the runner-up spot.

The market reacted accordingly, with the winner clipped to 7-1 from 20-1 for the Ryanair and, more pointedly, to 4-1 for Kempton on Boxing Day. Henderson, speaking to Sky Sports Racing, allowed himself a moment of satisfaction while keeping a trainer’s natural caution: “I’m delighted to see what we have on our hands and I just hope he is all good in the morning.

“He was lame after Aintree last year and had to have a screw put in a joint which has never troubled him touch wood through his preparation and if that is all good tomorrow we can look forward.

“I haven’t been in a rush with him through the early part of the autumn and we thought this was the right place to be, but we didn’t exactly rush to get here. It was nice to see him ready enough to do that without a bother.

“Firstly we have to make sure he is all right in the morning and with something like that you have to always come through a test like this with fingers crossed. But we have a great team and hopefully if all is OK we can start thinking about the next plan.

“It’s a fairly obvious one and I think you have to move to Kempton and have a look at it. I know he won the Arkle last year but he’s not a two-miler, that we definitely know. He told us that in the Arkle and I don’t know how he won the Arkle, it was ridiculous.

“This looked the obvious starting point to give us time ahead of the King George if that was the route. The Peterborough just doesn’t give you that time, it’s a bit later and a bit too close to Kempton.

“So we did come here to give ourselves the option and it might have been a bit optimistic but right now it might have been the right decision.

“Will he stay three? Well that was a proper gallop all the way and there was no hiding place and Nico gave him a beautiful ride. He was blatantly going the best from a long way out and he quickened too, which was something I did like.”

On a day that asked searching questions, Jango Baie provided the clearest of answers, travelling like a horse with the next level firmly within reach.

1965 Chase
£70,000 guaranteed, 4yo plus, 2m 5f 8y, Class 1
5 ran
Going: Good, Good to Soft in places

POS. DIST HORSE AGE WGT TRAINER JOCKEY SP
1    Jango Baie 6 11-7 Nicky Henderson Nico de Boinville 9/4F
2 9 Gidleigh Park 7 11-7 Harry Fry Bryan Carver 11/4
3 27 Pic D'Orhy 10 11-10 Paul Nicholls Harry Cobden 7/2
4 17 Master Chewy 8 11-10 Nigel & Willy Twiston-Davies Sam Twiston-Davies 18/1
PU Il Est Francais 7 11-4 Tom George James Reveley 11/4