This year’s Tingle Creek seemingly revolves around one horse – Nicky Henderson’s Jonbon. He’s fully expected to win this in impressive fashion, so will he do just that? Or could there be a bit of an upset on the cards?
GG writer Jake Russell previews this years race, before giving his verdict on who he expects to come out on top.
Last year’s renewal saw Alan King’s EDWARDSTONE win in impressive fashion – could he follow up again this year?
Key Race Trends
- 9 of the last 12 winners were aged between 6-8.
- 7 of the last 12 winners were favourites/joint favourites.
- 10/12 winners came from the top 3 in the betting.
- 7/12 winners ran within the last 32 days.
- 5 of the last 12 winners won on their last run before the Tingle Creek Chase.
- 11/12 winners were rated 161+.
- 12/12 winners had at least 3 previous chase wins.
- 11/12 had at least 4 previous wins over 15-17 furlongs.
Runner-By-Runner Guide
BOOTHILL
(Harry Fry/Jonathan Burke)
The Harry Fry Boothill runner arguably arrives here in the best form out of the other runners, with two wins in two runs to his name already this season, those were in two quite valuable Handicaps at Ascot. Although the form is a little way off the main two in the market, he posted an Racing Post Rating of 160 last time out, which was a career high for him, so the thinking is he could still be improving over fences with each passing run. And fair play to Harry Fry and connections for taking a chance in this race, stranger things have happened.
Boothill is a second season chaser, who does have quite a decent record over the larger obstacles, with 5 wins in just 9 runs, and he has progressed nicely to now operate off the mark of 158, 3lbs higher than that Ascot victory last time. He did run in the Henry VIII Novices Chase last season, and was firmly put in his place by a very good Jonbon that day, so it is hard to see how he reveres the form here, with Jonbon being 170 rated horse now. He takes a marked step up in class here, and needs to prove he is a Graded type, but with the five runners set to head to post come Saturday, should he stay on his feet and go around nicely then there will be some place prize money up for grabs. It could be a nice move from connections.
EDWARDSTONE
(Alan King/Tom Cannon)
Obviously all eyes will ultimately be on Jonbon, a horse that beat Edwardstone pretty comfortably last time out in the Shloer Chase at Cheltenham, however Alan King has stated his runner will no go much better with a run under his belt. Also another huge thing that will set him in good stead is his form at this venue. A Grade 1 Henry VIII winner a few years back, as well as the winner of this contest 12 months ago, in what was a very strong field at the time with multiple Grade 1 horses in behind, and Edwardstone won it by an easy 9 lengths.
The Alan King runner also does have a very strong record when going right handed, with 6 runs to his name going that way, 5 of them being wins and one was an unseating at Kempton in a race that he was sent off odds on for, and might have won had he have stayed on his feet all the way around. He is such a likeable type who jumps well, and can bring up a surprise once in a while, mainly hinting back to that Tingle Creek victory last year. And his Novice Chasing season was so good to watch, although the standard of horses might not have been high class, he still won 5 races including the Arkle at the festival, one of my all-time favourite performances from horse and jockey that day – It was awesome to see him prove the doubters wrong and land a huge festival win.
He did look to slight loose his way last season however when beaten in his last two runs, and well beaten in the Champion Chase behind Energumene, he did bounce back to some sort of form last time when coming 2nd behind Jonbon. Jumping well in the main, and not really given to much of a hard time up the Cheltenham Hill, assuming a tilt at retaining his crown here was the reason for that. Alan King has hinted at a possible step up in trip in the near future, so it begs the question of has he lost his 2-mile speed. We should find out more come Saturday in the Tingle Creek, where he has to take on a mature and better looking Jonbon.
HADDEX DES OBEAUX
(Gary Moore/Jack Tudor)
This horse Haddex Des Obeaux like Boothill is another chaser to come on leaps and bounds with each passing run, he was once rated 127 on his first chase start, he has since won two contests and placed in another taking him up to by far a career high of 150. Although he is improving nicely, that is still a little way off the main market leaders here, and he will have to run off level weights with them.
His Warwick performance in January was pretty scintillating, as he galloped them into submission from the front end, jumping well before pulling away to win by 19 lengths, looking like he could be molding into a potential graded type. Already had the one run this season, that was at Cheltenham where he tired to run the sting out of them from the front, and it did looked to have worked for a short time, however he was headed when falling at the last, and it did look a tired jump. That would have blown the cobwebs away, and if he can get an easy time of things on the front end, he could cause a little shock as sometimes these front running horses do, but he would need an almighty effort to do that off the back of his fall last time. Again fair play to connections for taking a chance, horses make races and he could very much do so on Saturday.
JONBON
(Nicky Henderson/Nico de Boinville)
Realistically this race will evolve all around Jonbon this year, arguably the UK’s star 2-mile chaser, he will hopefully line up at Sandown on Saturday with all being well. He will be looking to land his first Grade 1 of the season after a pretty scintillating performance in the Grade 2 Shloer Chase at Cheltenham just over 2 weeks ago. He done something quite rare last season, which was during his Novice Chasing season, where he took on the older, more experienced chasers, and most definitely put in a career best performance to land the Grade 1 Celebration Chase at Sandown. Where there was some real Grade 1 horses in behind that day, including the likes of Captain Guinness, Greaneteen and Editeur De Gite. They were all pretty well beaten that day by Jonbon.
He just loves to ping a fence, and he looks especially classy when doing it at Sandown, as he visited that track two times last season. One in the Henry VIII Novices Chase, where he won like a seasoned professional, jumping superbly to make all and power away by 8 lengths, with Boothill in behind. The 2nd time we got to see him ping those fences was as previously mentioned in his last run of the season last term, landing another Grade 1 in the process with the Celebration Chase, which might I add was only 14 days after his Aintree romp, so Nicky H does run his horses unlike what people might think about the subject.
Already had the pipe opener for the season ahead, he was pretty foot perfect in all avenues at Cheltenham a few weekends back, and even looked to have behaved himself pre-race. Something that has caused a few issues with him in the past, as he can get a bit fractious when parading and going down to the start. But he looked to have his head really switched on that Sunday, and even throughout the race he looked to be a much more of a mature horse. Jumping well and flicking his ears constantly, listening to Nico De Boinville on his back as he no doubt was giving instructions to the horse. I think this is the season Jonbon takes off and gets the credit he deserves, as lets not forget, he has only been beaten twice in his career, by Constitution Hill and El Fabiolo, both in Grade 1’s at the Cheltenham Festival. He is a class act and will be a real force in any and all of the 2-mile chases this season.
JP McManus’ racing manager Frank Berry told Racing TV:
“He was very good at Cheltenham, he did everything well. Touch wood, Nicky [Henderson] and Nico [de Boinville, jockey] are both very happy with him going to Sandown on Saturday and hopefully he will run a big race.”
“We just don’t know how far he’ll go on soft ground until he tries it – he has won on soft ground plenty of times. He is another year older and stronger so hopefully he’ll be able to cope with it.
“He’s been unlucky at the Festival for the last two years but he’s still ran massive races – he’s just bumped into two very, very good horses. Fingers crossed, he can carry on his progression this weekend.”
NUBE NEGRA
(Dan Skelton/Harry Skelton)
To see this horse being the outsider of the field here is a real shame, as a few seasons back he lowered the colors of Altior and looked to be a real force in the 2-mile division for seasons to come. However a few injuries and little niggling issues along the way, things haven’t quite materialized for the Skelton horse. An 8 length winner of the Shloer Chase at Cheltenham last season, he then went on to come 2nd at Kempton and then pull up in the Champion Chase. That slightly disappointing form continued as he was then well beaten in this years Shloer Chase by 16 lengths, looking like the run was very much needed at that time.
I don’t think he deserves to be the outsider of the field here, as if he can find some good form again he won’t be to far away in the placings, and given that run last time was the first run since March, he is very much entitled to come on for the run. However the front two at the market do look to be a class above, and I can’t see any way where he reverses the form with Jonbon here.
Big-Race Verdict
Like most peoples final verdict should be, Jonbon just wins and wins well doesn’t he. He looks to be the perfect 2-mile horse this season, and although Edwardstone will come on for the run from last time and is a real decent test over this trip, does he have the 2-mile speed these days? With there only being 5 runners, there is no point in going against a formidable horses in Jonbon here. I would expect him to win this nicely, before looking ahead to bigger and better things later on in the season, more importantly that part 3 clash with El Fabiolo in the Champion Chase come March – What a battle that could be once again.
SELECTIONS: Jonbon – To Win (2/7 Generally)
*Odds Correct At Time Of Writing – 4.25pm Thursday 7th December*
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