Gunpone showed his class as the leading horse in the two-mile chase division, beating Energomin by six and a half lengths to win the Clarence House Chase at Ascot.
It was the ninth Grade 1 success for the 8-13 year old favorite, trained by Nicky Henderson, and follows December's historic win at Tingle Creek.
This latest win will only strengthen Junbon's case to be favorite for the Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham.
Willie Mullins' Energumene was undone at Clarence House by Jonbon's stablemate Shishkin in 2022, while Jonbon suffered a shock defeat to Elixir De Nutz last year when the race was moved to Cheltenham.
Jockey Nico de Boinville ensured that this loss would not be repeated, allowing the nine-year-old to run throughout before pulling away from his main rival after the penultimate fence.
“What a horse,” Henderson told ITV Sport. “He was so fresh and was giving almost as much effort as he could. We only wanted him to run.” [De Boinville] He didn't have much choice after that [Jonbon] He came out of the gate and was very keen on it.
“Nico set out with just one goal, it was a brave way to do it and the right way to do it. The horse loves it.”
Energumene was second on 9-4, while Edwardston finished third in the four-horse race ahead of Boothill.
