Tingle Creek Runners: Jonbon The One To Beat At Sandown

One of the highlights of the National Hunt season before the turn of the year is always the Tingle Creek, which has a stellar roll of honour. Moscow Flyer, Kauto Star, Master Minded, Sprinter Sacre, Altior... the list goes on! We probably won't see a winner of that class in truth come the 2023 renewal, but Nicky Henderson thinks the world of Jonbon and is insistent his expensive JP McManus charge will be kept to two miles over fences this season. He may have something to find with the best of Ireland, notably El Fabiolo, but he does look the premier minimum trip chaser in Britain right now. Billy Grimshaw takes us through the potential field of eleven here...

Jonbon could well shorten for this race at Sandown on December 9th when he is set to begin his season at Cheltenham in the Shloer Chase, a race he is a warm favourite for. Last year he was regarded as Britain's leading Arkle hope after chasing home the unbeatable Constitution Hill in the 2022 Supreme, and he certainly looks to relish the bigger obstacles as his brother Douvan once did. Thankfully Jonbon seems to be staying more sound than his supremely talented but fragile sibling, and in 2022/23 he tasted defeat just once, in the Arkle behind the mighty El Fabiolo. A novice chase season that reads: 1-1-1-2-1-1 is still an elite campaign and another feather in his cap is the fact he took out the Celebration Chase in open company at Sandown at the end of last season.

Clearly he is a horse with a decent constitution and he loves the game, so he is definitely the right favourite. Edwardstone comes next in the market and he is of course the defending champion for Alan King. After sauntering to Sandown success, the 2022 Arkle winner was seen by many as a real threat to Energumene in the Champion Chase, and even an unseat in the Desert Orchid didn't put his supporters off. They were particularly enthused after he finished ahead of Energumene in the Clarence House Chase at Ascot, as the consensus was these positions were representative of the horses' abilities. However, Edwardstone flopped in a big way in the Champion Chase, which Energumene won easily, and the notion of him ever winning a Champion Chase now seems fanciful. He does have a good record fresh and early in the season, so may give Jonbon something to think about, but he seems to be just below top class and if both run to their best it will be a case of Jonbon's bubble being burst if he is beaten by Edwardstone.

In the aforementioned Clarence House Chase when Edwardstone finished ahead of Energumene, the horse that finished ahead of both was Editeur Du Gite. Gary Moore's bold front running chaser was given an inspired ride that day by Jamie Moore but still showed brilliant battling qualities to see off Edwardstone when he got upsides. After this race he was another fancied by many to win the Champion Chase, but like Edwardstone he failed to fire on the day and after trailing home in fourth he was then soundly beaten by Jonbon in the Celebration Chase. He has race fitness on his side coming into this race as he began his season with a mediocre run in a handicap behind Elixir De Nutz, however he did begin last season with a flop before improving bundles second time. Second time out this season may well be the Shloer Chase, in which both he and Edwardstone could take on Jonbon, and his 14/1 price for that Cheltenham race looks rather insulting. Likewise, the 25/1 for the Tingle Creek certainly looks a bit overpriced and would be a thing of the past were he to fire in the Shloer.

Jonbon's Celebration Chase win came ahead of Captain Guinness, who ran a cracker in second after being punted massively overnight and in the morning. This is a talented horse and Henry De Bromhead has always retained bags of faith in him, so a crack at the Tingle Creek may be his perfect season starting point. By far the most intriguing entrant here is 2022 Brown Advisory Novice's Chase champion L'Homme Presse, who while surely a doubtful runner and even more doubtful winner, would add plenty of intrigue to the contest. He is still fancied by plenty to develop into a Gold Cup horse despite missing a chunk of time with injuries, but surely he will not have the pace to go with these two milers. This smacks of a prep run for bigger things, perhaps even the King George, but Elixir De Nutz could well be seeing this as his big day of the season. Joe Tizzard has started the season well and this horse was a smashing winner last time out, but would need plenty of improvement to win here.

The same can be said of Nube Negra, who surely needs the ground quick and probably won't get it, along with Boothill who Jonbon has dismissed readily on multiple occasions. Haddex Des Obeaux is a fascinating entrant for the Moore team and could perhaps be their next Editeur Du Gite, although he was a bit too free when falling at Cheltenham last time out when falling when bang in contention as favourite. If that race has taken the fizz out of him and he settles better here, it wouldn't be.a surprise to see him outrun his odds and jag a place. Who knows, he may well join his older stablemate in the frame, but Jonbon certainly looks the one to beat.