Sky Bet Peterborough Chase
 QuinnBet
Grade 2, Cheltenham 15:00
£80,000 guaranteed,
4yo plus,
2m 3f 168y, Class 1  
Sunday 7th December 2025

1 Djelo 5/6F
2 Edwardstone 14/1
3 Hitman 10/1
5 ran Distances: 4¾l, 15l, 1½l
Time: 5m 2.28s (slow by 14.28s)

Djelo booked himself a place on the Boxing Day radar with a performance full of authority, bossing this race from the moment the tapes went up to successfully retain his Huntingdon crown. Twelve months on from his emphatic win in the same race, Venetia Williams’ seven-year-old returned looking every inch a horse on the up, fresh from his Charlie Hall success at Wetherby and sent off the 5-6 favourite under Charlie Deutsch.

While Saint Sam’s tilt never really took flight – his jumping unravelling before Harry Cobden rightly called it a day – the favourite was all rhythm and precision. Djelo measured each fence with the confidence of a horse who knew exactly why he was there, turning the screw at his own tempo and keeping enough up his sleeve to hold off the evergreen Edwardstone by four and three-quarter lengths.

The market reacted accordingly, Paddy Power trimming him to 8-1 from 12-1 for the King George VI Chase, and the glittering Kempton centrepiece now beckons as the next logical step.

Williams summed up the post-race feeling.

“Charlie said after the last all he was thinking up the run-in was the King George and keeping a bit in the tank. It’s something to look forward to now and he deserves to take his chance in the race.

“It’s the obvious thing to do now and there aren’t many other races you would consider over that time period.

“He was the youngest horse in the race here and he still has plenty of time and hopefully a long career still ahead of him.”

Back-to-back Peterborough wins are a rarity – Racing Demon in 2006 and 2007 being the last to manage it – and even with the favourite’s tag, this was no gimme for a yard not firing on all cylinders in recent weeks. Williams was candid about the tension behind the calm exterior.

“I’m really thrilled and I won’t deny this was one of my more nerve-wracking days at the races because clearly not all of my horses have been firing as one would have liked,” she said.

“I won’t deny, I didn’t come here quite as confident as I should have been in light of what I have just seen. It’s hard to compare this to last year’s performance, but it was every bit as good anyway.

“The assumption was Saint Sam would make the running, but quite rightly Charlie only allowed that to a certain point and he clearly wasn’t going quick enough. Charlie needed to make sure it was the right test for Djelo and did.

“I said after Wetherby, with good horses like him, they don’t have finite distances and as long as they are quick enough for shorter but can stay further you can mix and match accordingly – versatility is a good thing.”

Edwardstone, valiant in pursuit and far from disgraced, earned warm words from Alan King, who hinted there could be more staying tests on the horizon.

“I don’t think we’re going to be retiring him after that and it’s great.

“We’re not going to be coming back in trip and I might even be going up even more, but I’ll wait to see what Tom (Cannon, jockey) says and have a think.

“I’m just delighted and relieved he has come back in one piece.”

On a day where Djelo made his intentions clear with every stride, the King George picture just grew another intriguing layer.

BoyleSports

Sky Bet Peterborough Chase
£80,000 guaranteed, 4yo plus, 2m 3f 189y, Class 1
5 ran
Going: Soft, Good to Soft in places

POS. DIST HORSE AGE WGT TRAINER JOCKEY SP
1    Djelo 7 11-10 Venetia Williams Charlie Deutsch 5/6F
2 4¾ Edwardstone 11 11-4 Alan King Tom Cannon 14/1
3 15 Hitman 9 11-10 Paul Nicholls Freddie Gingell 10/1
4 1½ Boombawn 8 11-7 Dan Skelton Harry Skelton 9/1
PU Saint Sam 8 11-10 W P Mullins Harry Cobden 9/4

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