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In this 1xBet review, we will talk about one of the season’s toughest races, look at the statistics, and identify the main contenders for the win.

Il Etait Temps the One to Beat in the Tingle Creek as Jonbon and L’Eau du Sud Try to Halt Mullins’ Star

The Tingle Creek is the first serious examination of any horse with Champion Chase ambitions. The race is run at a relentless gallop and features the famous seven-fence stretch down the back straight at Sandown, capped by the three Railway Fences that come in rapid succession. It demands scope, brains and accuracy.

Although the race has existed in various formats since 1969, it has carried the name of the great steeplechaser Tingle Creek only since 1979 and has been a Grade One since 1994. Even when the race was a handicap, it has only been won three times by one horse, the mighty Flagship Uberalles, who completed an extraordinary hat-trick between 1999 and 2001.

Trying to emulate that achievement this year is Jonbon, who bids for a third consecutive success. He is trained by Nicky Henderson, a four-time Tingle Creek winner. Jonbon has always produced his best at Sandown, where his form figures read 11-11-12, backed up by Racing Post Ratings of 170, 171, 172, 172 and 169 in open company.

He does, however, need to bounce back from a flat reappearance in the Shloer Chase at Cheltenham. The track has never suited him, as illustrated by two workmanlike wins at long odds on and three odds-on defeats from seven visits. If you can forgive the return effort, his current price is tempting, but it is worth remembering he returned his lowest RPR since February 2023. Ten of the last twelve winners were aged between six and eight, and Jonbon is now nine.

The obvious younger threat is L’Eau du Sud, trained by the red-hot Skelton team, who have been landing major prizes almost weekly. He beat Jonbon in the Shloer and has already won at Sandown, taking the Henry VIII Novices’ Chase on this card last year. His Shloer RPR of 170 looks a clear career best, although the form’s strength is open to debate given Jonbon underperformed and Matata almost unseated at the last. His official rating has climbed from 155 to 163, which is relevant because eleven of the last twelve winners were rated 161 or higher.

Even so, he has only seven chase starts, making him the least experienced of the big three.

The key piece of this puzzle may be the horse who broke Jonbon’s perfect Sandown record: Il Etait Temps, trained by Willie Mullins, the one man both Henderson and Skelton fear on a Saturday. That Sandown victory was his fifth Grade One win, his fourth from seven chase starts, and it produced a career-high RPR of 175, higher than anything Jonbon has achieved.

He won again comfortably in early November, proving his fitness, and it is difficult to pick holes in his profile. He is the highest rated in the field, he has won on his only visit to Sandown, and his form is rock solid. The only negative is that he is 0 from 2 in December, although both defeats came when finishing second to odds-on stablemates. He is unbeaten in November, has never run in January, and is two from three in February, so December looks more coincidence than concern.

L’Eau du Sud may well repeat his Shloer effort, and Jonbon may find the spark that Sandown usually ignites, but on the form book that might not be enough to stop Il Etait Temps if he turns up anywhere near his best.

The analytical piece was prepared by Emmet Kennedy — Presenter, Producer, and Owner of The Final Furlong Podcast, Broadcaster with TalkSPORT, and Broadcast Consultant —  with the support of 1xBet Ireland.

1XBET AND TERMINUS PLATFORM IRELAND LIMITED DO NOT SPONSOR ANY OF THE EVENTS ABOVE AND HAVE NO PARTNERSHIP WITH ASSOCIATED SPORTS LEGUES AND/OR ASSOCIATIONS.