At an emotionally-charged Cheltenham on Wednesday, Marine Nationale (5/1) won the BetBMG Champion Chase for Barry Connell and Seán Flanagan.
Winner of the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle in 2023, when ridden by the recently deceased Michael O’Sullivan, Marine Nationale ran out an emphatic winner of the day two feature.
Jonbon (5/6f), trained by Nickey Henderson for J.P. McManus made a jumping error and it took a patient Nico de Boinville time to get the race favourite back into contention.
Tried as he did, however, Marine Nationale, a son of French Navy, had flown under Flanagan, to decisively win the Grade 1 contest by 18 lengths.
Jonbon was second, with former Champion Chaser Captain Guinness (25/1) third, one and a quarter lengths behind the McManus-owned runner-up.
