John Ingles puts forward the case for Tingle Creek hope Jonbon who is bidding to win the race for the third year in a row.
Jonbon became the latest of several top two-mile chasers to win the Tingle Creek for a second time when successful at Sandown twelve months ago. But if he were to complete the hat-trick on Saturday, he would be in rarer company, joining Flagship Uberalles – whose wins from 1999 to 2001 came for three different jockeys and three different trainers at two different tracks – as the only other three-time winner. His second win came at Cheltenham after Sandown was abandoned that year.
If successful, it would actually be Jonbon’s fourth consecutive win on this card as he won the Henry VIII Novices’ Chase in 2022, giving an impressive eight-length beating to Boothill who’s the outsider on Saturday. Since then, Jonbon has landed the odds in his two Tingle Creeks, convincingly beating the 2022 winner Edwardstone on the first occasion and then putting up one of the best efforts of his whole career last year when coming home eight lengths clear of Quilixios after Edwardstone had fallen four out.
Jonbon has a wonderfully consistent overall record, being yet to finish out of the first two in his life and winning 13 of his 18 starts over fences. But on the whole, he seems much more at home popping round Sandown than he does at Cheltenham where he hasn’t always looked in his comfort zone – notably in last season’s Queen Mother Champion Chase where he could only take a remote second behind Marine Nationale after ruining his chance with a rare jumping lapse. The standing start that day did him no favours either.
Even so, Jonbon has prefaced both his Tingle Creek victories with successful reappearances in the Shloer Chase, though the fact remains that five of his six defeats have come at Cheltenham. His latest one came when returning in the Shloer Chase again where this time he suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of L’Eau du Sud. But that doesn’t look a result to take entirely at face value.
Dan Skelton clearly had his charge ready for the day, whereas Jonbon, coming back from a breathing operation, looked beforehand as if he would benefit for the run.
The fifteen lengths he was beaten by L’Eau du Sud (who was getting 3 lb) exaggerates the winner’s superiority too, as conditions were very testing on the day, putting the emphasis on fitness, and it was the first time in his career, in fact, that Jonbon had raced on ground Timeform called heavy.
With that run under his belt, and returning to Sandown, Jonbon can be expected to be much closer to his best than he was at Cheltenham last month. But he has more than just L’Eau du Sud to settle a score with, as his other main rival Il Etait Temps got the better of him in the Celebration Chase here last April, another race he was seeking to win for the third year running. Excuses were perhaps harder to find for that five and a half length defeat, but Jonbon was sweating beforehand on an admittedly warm afternoon and looked a bit dull in his coat.
Conditions were also on the quick side, though Jonbon went with his usual zest in front, jumping soundly under substitute jockey Mark Walsh replacing the injured Nico de Boinville, before Il Etait Temps headed him between the final two fences. Jonbon had had a run since his Champion Chase defeat, landing the odds in the Melling Chase at Aintree three weeks earlier, whereas Il Etait Temps had been off the track for almost a whole year beforehand.
Summing up, Jonbon undoubtedly faces a stiffer task than in his last two Tingle Creeks, up against a pair of younger rivals who each have verdicts over him. But he’s sure to strip fitter for his comeback and that, coupled with his much more convincing record around Sandown, suggests the hat-trick can’t be ruled out at all.
He’d certainly be the most popular winner.
Betfair Tingle Creek: The case for Il Etait Temps
Betfair Tingle Creek Chase: The case for L'Eau du Sud
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