'It's a race I'd love to win and there are no negatives with him' - Paul Townend out to break Tingle Creek duck on Il Etait Temps
The top jockey has bagged an incredible 160 Grade 1 wins - yet the Sandown showpiece is currently absent from his CV
Paul Townend is second only to Ruby Walsh – his predecessor at Willie Mullins' yard – in the all-time list of Grade 1-winning jockeys but the Betfair Tingle Creek is not yet among the 160 top-level events he has won and that is something he would like to put right at Sandown on Saturday when he teams up with red-hot favourite Il Etait Temps.
Il Etait Temps was only seen once last season but his comeback in the Celebration Chase was certainly worth waiting for as he whizzed by Jonbon in between the final two fences to win going away by five and a half lengths. It was a striking performance from a horse returning from a 359-day absence.
Mullins had no hesitation in nominating the Tingle Creek as his early-season aim afterwards and the seven-year-old arrives at Sandown on the back of a near-flawless prep in the Clonmel Oil Chase last month, when he did not have to come out of second gear to secure an 18-length success over Senecia.
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