Tingle Creek: Jonbon all class to retain Sandown's feature title
Jonbon added his name to the list of multiple winners in the Betfair Tingle Creek Chase at a windswept Sandown
Saturday 7 December 2024 16:05, UK
Top-class chaser Jonbon took his record to 16 wins from 19 races with victory in the Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown.
Nicky Henderson's elite chaser was winning at the highest level for the eighth time.
Since the turn of the century top-class chasers like Flagship Uberalles, Moscow Flyer, Kauto Star, Master Minded and Sire De Grugy have won the Tingle Creek more than once and all Jonbon is now lacking is a first victory at the Cheltenham Festival.
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Sent off the 8-13 favourite, Nico De Boinville had an early scare when Jonbon banked the second fence but after that it was plain sailing.
Quilixios took the field along with Jonbon never far away as JPR One also kept tabs on the front two.
Master Chewy fell relatively early on and then Edwardstone departed just as the race was developing, but all the while Jonbon was a looming presence.
He hit the front rounding the turn for home and had little trouble extending for an eight-length victory.
Henderson said: "He's returned with a little nick and I hope it's just superficial, but it will get cleaned off straight away.
"The mistake at the first ditch - he's jumped it so many time you'd think he'd know there wasn't a crocodile in there but today he thought there was! So many horses do that.
"He was up for a battle today, he wanted to battle earlier than even Nico wanted him to. He's just a real true terrier but he's a very classy terrier. He loves a scrap and wanted to go faster the whole way.
"Surely we go the Clarence House next and then hopefully we'll get into a fight with whoever they send over from Ireland at Cheltenham.
"You'd have to say he's right up there (with Sprinter Sacre and Altior). He's been at the top of his game apart from the Clarence House last year which was unfortunate, otherwise he'd be one more ahead of the game.
"He is the two-miler than can represent our country. We've got to fight against the enemy who are going to come over in force. We'll have to see how Energumene (former Champion Chase winner) gets on tomorrow."
"It's hugely special. After Newcastle last weekend and now this it's very special, and what a horse he is to win back-to- back Tingle Creeks, he's quite something," De Boinville told ITV Racing.
"He really did find a lot there and his jumping is just getting better and better. It was probably miscommunication at the second but that was it.
"It's hard work out there and gruelling but he's a hardy horse.
"He's really maturing, Paddy (Murphy) looks after him after day and keeps him in good order."
L'Eau Du Sud is king in Henry VIII Chase
L'Eau Du Sud maintained his impressive start to the season when winning the Betfair Henry VIII Novices' Chase at Sandown.
Sent off the 10-11 favourite having impressed greatly last time out at Cheltenham, this time he had to win in a totally different fashion.
Gordon Elliott had sent two promising types over for the Grade One in Down Memory Lane and Touch Me Not so it was never going to be a walk in the park.
However, Down Memory Lane never looked happy from an early stage in his jumping and Mark Walsh was always niggling him along.
Touch Me Not put the pace to the race but one bad mistake down the back straight brought him back to the others and Harry Skelton appeared to going much better on the grey.
L'Eau Du Sud met the second last all wrong, though, and despite reasserting his advantage over Touch Me Not on the run to the last he again landed on all fours so it was to his credit in testing ground that he picked up once again to win by three and three-quarter lengths for Dan Skelton.
"The ground was hard work, it's deep now. He bunny hopped the last but he's a tough horse and has won ugly when he needed to," Harry Skelton told ITV Racing.
"He'll have a little break now and will probably have one run before the Arkle.
"He's a fit horse, you've got to run them when they are fit and well and that is what Dan does, you take your chances but he's shown today ground doesn't really matter.
"I think he's got it all this horse. On some nice spring ground I think he'll really enjoy it.
"He's beaten two really good horses today and Soul Icon is no slouch. He's thrown our hat in the ring there but I'm sure there's plenty to come across the Irish Sea."
