A small and select field of speedy chasers will go to post to contest the wo mile Grade One event, in order to lay down a serious Queen Mother Champion Chase marker. 13 fences stand between the runners and Tingle Creek glory, including the three challenging Railway Fences down the back straight.
Repeat winners are the order of the day, as seven chasers have won ultiple Tingle Creeks in its short history. Sporting Index racing punters will have many fond memories of the likes of Flagship Uberalles and Moscow Flyer. There will be plenty of spread betting interest in Twist Magic, who bids to emulate Long Engagement in winning back the Tingle reek, after the latter beat hot favourite Desert Orchid by two and a half lengths in 1989.
Buyers of the mercurial Twist Magic on the win index spread market can ake encouragement from the fact that Champion trainer Paul Nicholls has won the last four editions of the Tingle Creek Chase. Spread buyers will also be pleased that the horse also has an honourable record around Sandown Park and should be able to rely upon the services of jockey Ruby Walsh. Meanwhile spread sellers will be hoping that further rain will cupper the gelding’s chances of being involved in the finish.
Sellers of Twist Magic on the spreads can cheer home the likes of Big Zeb nd Well Chief. Big Zeb absolutely hacked up at Navan on his seasonable reappearance and is the likely favourite. Buyers of starting prices on the spreads will be hoping that an outsider can upset the market predictions, just as Ask Tom did in 1997 when winning denying Viking Flagship by a head at odds of 6/1. On the other hand, spread sellers of SPs will take heart from the fact that the biggest winning SP of the past decade was only 5/1, and that this year’s outsider, Mahogany Blaze, hasn’t won in his last 10 attempts.
Three of the last four winners were five years old, whilst David Pipe’s Well Chief will bid to equal Moscow Flyer’s record as the oldest winner at the ripe old age of ten. Irish jockeys Ruby Walsh and Barry Geraghty haveboth won two Tingle Creeks each, but they still have ground to make up on Richard Dunwoody, who can boast five wins from three different horses.
Sporting Index punters are always keen to sink their teeth into the winningdistance spreads, especially on a big occasion such as Tingle Creek day. Buyers of winning distances certainly wouldn’t mind a 14 length demolition to match the performance of Cenkos in 2002, but they would also stand for a 10 length romp à la Master Minded last year. Sellers of the spread can cross their fingers for a dramatic finish, similar to that of 1999 whenFlagship Uberalles and Direct Route could only be separated by a neck.