Can Jonbon bag a Tingle Creek hat-trick? Assessing the key contenders for Sandown's Saturday feature - plus Harry Wilson's advised play

Jonbon has won the Tingle Creek Chase for the last two years and returns in search of a hat-trick on Saturday (3.00), but he no doubt faces his toughest test of the three. Here's a run-through of the leading contenders for Sandown's £175,000 race . . .

• Il Etait Temps, Jonbon and L'Eau Du Sud among Tingle Creek confirmations - but Henderson star given alternative weekend entry 

Il Etait Temps

Best Racing Post Rating: 175 (Celebration Chase, April 2025)

Odds: 8-13f (Betfair Sportsbook)

Pros: Won on his seasonal reappearance in early November, taking the Clonmel Oil Chase by 18 lengths as the 2-9 favourite and posting a near career-best Racing Post Rating of 173. His best performance came on his sole visit to Sandown when beating Jonbon in the Celebration Chase in April. He has also won all three starts when sent off favourite and has never finished outside the first three in eight runs over fences, winning six of those. 

Il Etait Temps and Paul Townend taking a fence on route to victory in the Grade 2 Clonmel Oil ChaseCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

Cons: He has been beaten on seven of his 12 starts over trips between 1m7½f and 2m1f, so he has by no means been unstoppable at this distance – a vulnerability the opposition will be keen to exploit.

Key quote Paul Townend (after last run at Clonmel, November 6): "We always thought an awful lot of him, but he didn't jump hurdles well. He's only a handy horse but jumps fences economically and well. The engine was always there but he'd been hard on himself and it's taken him time to mature, and us time to figure him out."

Il Etait Temps15:00 Sandown

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Jky: Tnr: W P Mullins

L'Eau Du Sud

Best RPR: 170 (Shloer Chase, November 2025)

Odds: 2-1

Pros: Like Il Etait Temps, he has also beaten Jonbon, and did so more recently in the Shloer Chase at Cheltenham’s November meeting, which was a career-best performance for the seven-year-old as he began his second season over fences. His chase record now stands at five wins from seven. He has also won on his sole visit to Sandown, scoring at this meeting last year in the Henry VIII Novices’ Chase. 

Harry Skelton riding L'Eau Du Sud clear at the last to win the Shloer Chase at CheltenhamCredit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images)

Cons: On peak RPRs he has 5lb to find with the Willie Mullins-trained market leader, and this is a race trainer Dan Skelton has yet to win.

Key quote Dan Skelton (after Shloer Chase, November 14): "He's a very good horse and he's improved. I'm excited to have a real good two-miler. He'll go to the Tingle Creek on Saturday and then, based on what I got wrong last year [running at Warwick before the Cheltenham Festival], he could go straight to the Champion Chase."

L'Eau du Sud15:00 Sandown

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Jky: Tnr: Dan Skelton

Jonbon

Best RPR: 173 (Melling Chase, April 2025; Clarence House Chase, January 2025)

Odds: 9-2

Pros: Jonbon has been a dominant force in the two-mile chasing division and has never finished outside the first two, winning 18 races, including ten Grade 1s and the last two runnings of this contest. He is entitled to improve for his seasonal debut at the November meeting and boasts a superb record at Sandown, winning five of his six starts here – the sole defeat coming against Il Etait Temps in the Celebration Chase last season. 

Cons: Is two years older than the pair above him in the market and has won only one of his last four starts, including defeats by both rivals. He was also somewhat fortunate to finish runner-up to L’Eau Du Sud at Cheltenham after Matata’s late error. That run produced his lowest RPR since the Kingmaker Novices’ Chase in February 2023, while the two above him posted far stronger figures on their seasonal returns.

Key quote Nicky Henderson (after Shloer Chase, November 14): "I think Jonbon found it hard work. I don't think his jumping is as brilliant as it can be in that [soft] ground, but we've got the run into him and that was the vital thing to do. If he didn't run he wasn't going to get to the Tingle Creek, and he's got to run there."

Jonbon15:00 Sandown

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Jky: Tnr: Nicky Henderson

Analysis: Jonbon could be the biggest threat to Il Etait Temps, not L'Eau Du Sud

By Harry Wilson

Il Etait Temps looked mightily impressive when returning from 359 days off to beat Jonbon in the Celebration Chase over the Tingle Creek course and distance in April and is deservedly a short price to confirm his superiority next month, especially if their respective reappearances are anything to go by.

While Il Etait Temps cruised to an 18-length romp in the Clonmel Oil Chase four weeks ago, Jonbon put in a poor round of jumping when a distant second to L'Eau Du Sud in the Shloer Chase last month – and he may have been only third but for a bad mistake at the last by Matata.

Jonbon being a bigger price than L'Eau Du Sud off the back of that is understandable, but we know he's a different animal at Sandown, where his record is 5-6 with four RPRs of 170-plus, as opposed to 2-7 at Cheltenham.

Il Etait Temps sets the standard and is the likeliest winner, but if L'Eau Du Sud was flattered by the 15-length winning margin in the Shloer, which he could well be, then playing Jonbon in the 'without the favourite' market could be the answer.

Tingle Creek Chase, 3.00 Sandown, Saturday
Betfair: 8-13 Il Etait Temps, 2-1 L'Eau Du Sud, 9-2 Jonbon, 20 Libberty Hunter, 25 Boothill, 33 Edwardstone

Read more . . .

Champion Chase contenders to the fore as top two-mile chasers clash this week on both sides of the Irish Sea 

Il Etait Temps team eyeing Jonbon rematch after grey routs rivals and leads home big-race double for Willie Mullins 

'I didn’t see that happening' - Dan Skelton plots path to Champion Chase with L'Eau Du Sud as Jonbon's jumping costs him again 

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