Star Face was sold for just €2,000 in 2012 destined for export to Tunisia but, not surprisingly, once Douvan began winning races she suddenly became a much hotter property and remained in France where the mating that led to Jonbon took place. She was certainly in the right hands to do so but one run over hurdles in France for Guillaume Macaire, in which she finished a tailed-off last of five finishers, was apparently enough to convince her trainer that she wasn’t worth persevering with. Star Face has therefore produced a couple of top-notchers from her only two foals to have raced but she showed precious little ability herself. Douvan’s unbeaten run finally came to an end at his third Festival when he was sensationally beaten in the Queen Mother Champion Chase for which he was sent off the shortest-priced favourite for a Festival race this century.įound afterwards to have sustained a hairline fracture to his pelvis, Douvan was seen out only infrequently thereafter (he fell when returning in the same race a year later), but his final appearance on a racecourse was nonetheless a winning one when he gained the fifteenth win of his career from 18 completed starts in the Clonmel Oil Chase in 2019.

Rather than in Irish points, Douvan began his career over hurdles in France, finishing second on his debut before winning his next start and then being acquired privately to race in Rich and Susannah Ricci’s colours for Willie Mullins.ĭouvan went on to compile a winning streak of 14 races, succeeding where Jonbon was to fail by winning the Supreme and then returning to the Festival 12 months later for the Arkle which will be Jonbon’s own big target in the spring. Jonbon’s price tag as a once-raced pointer was also influenced by the fact that his dam Star Face had ‘form’ as a broodmare as she was already the dam of the outstanding chaser Douvan who achieved a Timeform rating of 182 over fences.