It's a big weekend for the two-mile chasers with the Tingle Creek and Hilly Way both taking place. Here's how the leading players in the division stack up on Timeform's ratings.
Il Etait Temps (Timeform rating 172)
Il Etait Temps, a three-time Grade 1 winner during his novice campaign, wasn't seen out until the final day of the British jumps season last term but proved better than ever on his belated return.
Il Etait Temps jumped soundly, travelled smoothly and picked up strongly when asked to impressively quicken five and a half lengths clear of Jonbon, posting a top-class performance and the best in the division in the 2024/25 season.
He was presented with a straightforward task on his reappearance in the Clonmel Oil Chase last month but scored in pleasing fashion to tee himself up for a crack at the Tingle Creek. He's rated 172 and the last Tingle Creek winner to register a higher performance rating was Altior in 2018.
Jonbon (170)
Jonbon added three Grade 1s to his tally last season, taking his total top-level haul to ten, but he suffered a couple of high-profile defeats in the Champion Chase at Cheltenham - where he spoiled his chance with a bad mistake - and then when runner-up to Il Etait Temps in the Celebration Chase at Sandown.
Jonbon was readily brushed aside by Il Etait Temps, but it was still a creditable performance on Timeform's figures, particularly as he might have been feeling the effects of a busy campaign that included a win in the Melling Chase at Aintree a few weeks earlier.
He was a long way below his best when a distant runner-up behind L'Eau du Sud in the Shloer Chase on his reappearance at Cheltenham last month, though in mitigation he may possibly have needed the run following a breathing operation and was also encountering more testing ground than usual. There are now questions to answer, for a horse whose consistency has seen him win 13 of his 18 starts over fences and finish runner-up on the other five occasions, but he remains rated a top-class performer ahead of his bid for a Tingle Creek hat-trick.
Marine Nationale (167)
Marine Nationale, the 2023 Supreme Novices' Hurdle winner, endured a chequered start to his chasing career and met with defeat on his first three appearances last term, but he ended the campaign by landing two of the most significant prizes in the division, the Champion Chases at Cheltenham and Punchestown.
Marine Nationale may have been flattered by the 18-length margin at Cheltenham - Quilixios was upsides when coming down at the final fence - but he looked to have the upper hand when his rival departed and was credited with a top-class performance on Timeform's ratings.
He showed there was no fluke about that display when following up at Punchestown, where he again benefited from a rival's mistake as El Fabiolo fell heavily at the second last when right in the mix. However, the way Marine Nationale saw out his race, to pull seven lengths clear of Captain Guinness, suggests that he probably would have shaded the verdict even had El Fabiolo completed.
Perhaps surprisingly given the prizes he won last season, Marine Nationale isn't the highest rated in the division and Il Etait Temps and Jonbon have shown a slightly higher level of form.
Majborough (166p)
Majborough was beaten at a short price in the Arkle at Cheltenham, though he did well to finish within a length of the winner given the severity of the mistake he made at the second last before rallying up the hill for third.
His jumping was by no means without fault at Punchestown, but he avoided serious error in the Barberstown Castle Novice Chase and came home 14 lengths clear of Only By Night, showing top-class form on Timeform's figures.
That was a big performance from Majborough on only his fourth start over fences and he still has the Timeform 'small p' to show that further improvement is expected, though he may prove better suited by two and a half miles rather than two given his jumping may be placed under more pressure at the minimum distance.
He is likely to start his campaign in the Hilly Way Chase at Cork, where he could take on stablemate Energumene, winner of the Champion Chase in 2022 and 2023.
L'Eau du Sud (165+)
L'Eau du Sud, winner of his first four starts over fences, came up short at the major spring festivals, finishing fourth in the Arkle at Cheltenham and third in the Maghull at Aintree. However, he will be well worth his place back in top company in the Tingle Creek based on how impressively he won the Shloer Chase on his reappearance at Cheltenham last month.
A 15-length margin on testing ground probably flatters L'Eau du Sud to an extent, given that he was probably fitter than runner-up Jonbon, but it has still been rated as a top-class effort and a significant improvement on what he achieved as a novice. He certainly travels and jumps like a top two-miler.
Found A Fifty (163)
Found A Fifty was a tame fourth in the Champion Chase at Down Royal last month on his first attempt at three miles, but he quickly bounced back to his best when dropped to two miles in the Fortria Chase at Navan a couple of weeks later.
Found A Fifty had won the Fortria Chase by a neck last season but won with much more to spare this time around, for all he produced a performance of similar merit on Timeform's figures.
That was a high-class performance and was backed up by the time, but his merit has already been established and, while he managed to win a couple of Grade 1s as a novice, he isn't among the leaders in the division.
Solness (163)
Solness had to settle for second behind Found A Fifty in the Fortria Chase last season and was then beaten around 25 lengths in the Tingle Creek, but he took his form to another level in the Paddy's Rewards Club Chase at Leopardstown where he made all to essentially win unchallenged by three and three-quarter lengths from Gaelic Warrior, with Marine Nationale three-quarters of a length back in third.
There were doubts about whether that front-running success could be taken at face value, but Solness backed up the performance by pulling off similar tactics in the Dublin Chase, beating Marine Nationale by a couple of lengths after building up a significant lead.
Solness was unable to repeat those efforts in the spring, finishing fourth at Cheltenham and third at Punchestown, but his wins at Leopardstown were backed up by good times and he's a high-class operator under those conditions, for all his overall record is a notch below that.
El Fabiolo (163x)
El Fabiolo was the leading novice of the 2022/23 campaign - no mean feat considering Jonbon was also on the scene - and was sent off the 2/9 favourite for the 2024 Champion Chase.
However, El Fabiolo was pulled up after making a bad mistake at the fifth and has continued to be let down by his jumping. He fell on three of his four starts last season, including in the Champion Chase at Punchestown where he was in the firing line and likely to have finished a close second to Marine Nationale but for crashing out at the second last.
He's not rated as highly as he was when carrying all before him as a novice but remains with a high-class figure and is a dangerous rival if putting it all together. However, he does have the 'x' attached to his rating to highlight that he's a poor jumper.
Energumene (161)
Dual Champion Chase winner Energumene was rated an outstanding performer at his best but he missed all of the 2023/24 season and wasn't the force of old after making his return from a lengthy absence.
He did win the Hilly Way Chase on his reappearance last season - and probably would have prevailed even had Banbridge not unseated at the final fence when closing - but was beaten on his three subsequent starts, including in the Champion Chase when pulled up.
He's rising 12 and no longer considered capable of top-class form but his runner-up effort to Jonbon in the Clarence House last season was rated a high-class performance on Timeform's scale.
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