'We're not going to beat Il Etait Temps over two miles at the moment' - Nicky Henderson pondering step up in trip for Jonbon

A fourth defeat in his last five starts for a horse who was 17 from 17 away from Cheltenham as recently as April has left Nicky Henderson strongly considering a step up in trip for Tingle Creek Chase runner-up Jonbon.

Doing a Kauto Star and going from the Tingle Creek to the King George may be too much, too soon, but the Ascot Chase over two miles and five furlongs in February will be given strong consideration, although the Clarence House Chase has not been ruled out.

"You've got to be tempted to go further," was Henderson's immediate reaction as he conceded Jonbon had gone out on his shield in finishing nine lengths behind the Willie Mullins-trained Il Etait Temps. "The Ascot Chase is an option, but the Clarence House is there as well. I don't know what Willie's thinking, he's probably got six for it, but we might have something else sat in the background, you never know."

Henderson was full of praise for the winner and added: "We're not going to beat him [Il Etait Temps] over two miles at the moment.

Nicky Henderson: "We thought after the Celebration he was at the end of a long season and he [Il Etait Temps] was fresh, but the winner has proved that over two miles he's a sharper horse now"Credit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

"He beat us last season, but Jonbon has proved there it wasn't because he was tired. We thought after the Celebration he was at the end of a long season and he [Il Etait Temps] was fresh, but the winner has proved that over two miles he's a sharper horse now."

Jonbon will turn ten on January 1 and has reached that stage, like Shishkin did eventually, where Henderson suspects he may be better over further.

He said: "We were going to lead, I think everybody knew that, so we just had to keep him honest all the way. He loved it. He jumped and galloped. He went down after a right good battle. I think what he's done there would probably have been good enough to win the last two Tingle Creeks."

L'Eau Du Sud will have a break and return for the Champion Chase in MarchCredit: Getty Images

L'Eau Du Sud got the better of Jonbon in the Shloer at Cheltenham, but the form was reversed here. Freshened up and back at Cheltenham, trainer Dan Skelton believes his seven-year-old will prove an altogether tougher opponent at the festival in March.

"I'm very happy, I just don't think we were at our best," said Skelton.

"We'll just have to get him super fresh and he'll go straight to the Champion Chase. We'll just try to have him in the form he was in at Cheltenham [for the Shloer]. I said beforehand I'd trained him for that, and I felt like we'd just kept him fresh for this – we were hopeful of seeing something similar.

"He's a two-miler. He can do it. I always knew Jonbon was going to improve and I also knew Il Etait Temps was going to be very hard to beat, so this doesn't come as a surprise. We're not sitting here going, wow, how did we get beat?"

Read more from Sandown here:

'Fantastic' Lulamba lays down Arkle marker with brilliant victory in Grade 1 Henry VIII Novices' Chase 

Heavyweight Tingle Creek lives up to its billing before Il Etait Temps delivers devastating knockout blow 

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