2023 Tingle Creek Festival Tips
There’s plenty to get excited about when it comes to the Tingle Creek Festival, with a massive thirteen races that comprise the two-day meeting. The opening day of the Festival includes two Grade 2 encounters, with The Betfair Winter Novices’ Hurdle Race being followed directly by The Betfair Esher Novices’ Steeple Chase.
Day Two of the Tingle Creek Festival will have the Tingle Creek Chase as the headline act, although the 2023 renewal features a rock-solid favourite in the form of Jonbon, with the Nicky Henderson-trained charge already operating at big odds-on to claim a victory. A spate of wins means that the bookmakers aren’t taking many chances.
Other horses entered into the Tingle Creek Chase include Edwardstone and Captain Guinness, with the former trained by Alan King and the nine-year-old has nearly ten lengths to find on Jonbon after a recent encounter at Cheltenham, although Captain Guinness could go better for trainer Henry de Bromhead and has been respected in the market.
The eight-year-old was last seen landing a victory at Navan, with the horse enjoying a seven-length win in the Grade Two Fortria Chase, with that result coming on soft-to-heavy ground, so the runner might appreciate tough conditions at Sandown Park, while the Venetia Williams-trained L’Homme Presse also an each-way contender.
2022 Tingle Creek Festival
The 2022 Tingle Creek Chase takes place on Saturday 3 December, with this forming centre stake when it comes to the Tingle Creek meeting. This National Hunt race is one of the biggest in the calendar and involves some of the best two-mile chasers in the land competing at Sandown Racecourse for the second-biggest prize in UK racing.
The biggest two-mile prize is of course the Queen Mother Champion Chase and plenty of pointers are provided when it comes to the above race by reviewing the Tingle. We might have seen Shishkin favourite for this encounter twelve months ago, although Nicky Henderson’s charge was last seen pulling up at the 2022 Cheltenham Festival.
Having been sent off as the odds-on favourite on this occasion, the horse simply didn’t travel although that non-performance had been preceded by a spate of victories although this will be the first time that we see the horse line up at Sandown Racecourse, having won the Ladbrokes Desert Orchid Chase at Kempton and then the Clarence House Chase at Ascot.
It is Greaneteen who lines up as the Tingle Creek betting favourite and there is plenty to recommend the Paul Nicholls-trained runner who lined up at Exeter at the beginning of November and was able to claim a victory in the Betway Haldon Gold Cup over two miles, one-and-a-half furlongs.
The Tingle Creek takes place on Day Two of the Betfair Tingle Creek Festival, with the opening day being Friday 2 December. We will see six races taking place and the highlight encounter being the Ballymore Winter Novices’ Hurdle. This is a Grade 2 race over two miles and four furlongs which will provide lots of Cheltenham Festival pointers.
There is an action-packed meeting on Day Two of the Tingle Creek Festival, with the Pertemps Network Handicap Hurdle preceding the Henry VIII Novices’ Steeple Chase. There is then the betfair Daily Rewards Handicap Hurdle before we get to the headline event being the Tingle Creek Chase.
Sandown Park racecourse in Surrey has a year-round schedule of high quality racing that includes flat and jumps meetings. While their biggest flat racing meeting takes place in July (the Coral-Eclipse), for National Hunt fans it’s all about early December when the course plays host to the Tingle Creek Christmas Festival.
The eponymous Tingle Creek Chase, a Grade 1 race run over a distance of two miles, is the understandable highlight of the two day meeting. Aside from the biggest race, we have two days of top National Hunt action from the Friday and the Chase Day on Saturday. For punters attending the meeting itself, Sandown even constructed a giant Bavarian Beer Hall to help you get into the festivities.
It is the horse racing betting that attracts most people to the Tingle Creek meeting though, whether in person or watching the races on the TV or through the live streaming service of a betting site. And if you are looking to bet on the races at Sandown, you will certainly want the best value prices, which is where our odds comparison comes in very handy: we do the hard work and compare the odds from the best racing bookies around to ensure you maximise the profits you make on winning bets.
Racing Betting Highlights
While not as packed with Graded races as some of the higher profile National Hunt meetings on the calendar, there are still plenty of exciting contests to get your teeth into.
As mentioned above, the Tingle Creek Chase is the most prestigious race of the whole meeting. Which should come as no surprise given the festival takes its name from the Grade 1 race. Run over a distance of two miles and with 13 fences to clear, this fast-paced chase is open to horses aged four years and older. It was first run back in 1979 and was named after Tingle Creek, a famous racehorse from the 1970s.
The race has been a Grade 1 affair since 1994, before which it was a handicap. Many of the winners of this race have gone on to gain success at the Cheltenham Festival, including the likes of Moscow Flyer, Kauto Star, Sprinter Sacre, Sire De Grugy and Un De Sceaux.
The other Grade 1 race at the festival, the Henry VIII Novices’ Chase, is run over the same distance as the main event. It is a highly competitive race that is often used as a stepping stone for trainers looking to develop some of their best novice chasers.
Friday’s main race is the Winter Novices’ Hurdle, a Grade 2 hurdle run over two and half miles with nine hurdles to clear. Former Cheltenham Gold Cup and King George VI winner See More Business is one of the more notable victors in this one.
Betting Insight
Sandown Park is an oval-shaped course that runs right-handed for around 13 furlongs, with a straight section of around half a mile. There is a slight incline towards the finish from the home turn, but the run-in is not as challenging as at some courses so being in a good position at the final turn tends to be critical. When the ground at Sandown is soft, the stand side of the straight tends to hold up better.
Although not relevant for this meeting, it is worth noting that there is also a five furlong straight track that runs through the middle of the main course.
Key Trends
When it comes to trends you could do worse than siding with trainer Paul Nicholls, who has an excellent record at this meeting and particularly in the Tingle Creek Chase itself. Legendary trainer Nicholls has saddled more than 2000 winners in his career and 10 of those have been in the Tingle Creek, with six in a row from 2005 to 2010 (with two wins each for Kauto Star, Twist Magic and Master Minded). Nicholls has also landed six Henry VIII Novices’ Chases and three Winter Novices’ Hurdles, amongst plenty of others at the meeting.
Since the Tingle Creek Chase was inaugurated in 1979, there have been four five year old winners, seven six year olds, 10 seven year olds, 11 eight year olds, five nine year olds and a single 10 year old (Moscow Flyer in 2004). So opting for the seven or eight year olds has paid off the majority of the time, although they are very well-represented in terms of entries too.
Solid form in Graded contests earlier in the season is generally not that important as many trainers use this as their season opener for their top chasers. Looking to the form at the previous year’s Cheltenham Festival often gives a decent indication of the horses that are likely to perform in the Tingle Creek, and indeed many of the other races at this festival. In fact getting ante post bets on the Tingle Creek soon after Cheltenham can give you a great chance of claiming some very good value betting odds.
Tingle Creek Christmas Festival – A Brief History
Sandown Park has hosted horse racing events since way back in 1875 and indeed it was the first purpose-built racecourse that had enclosures and that had been designed as a leisure destination.
The Tingle Creek meeting is relatively new compared to many of the better established National Hunt events, having started in 1979. It has developed over the years to become a firm early December fixture for racing fans who are keen to get the festive spirit up and running.
As the popularity of the meeting has increased, especially so in recent years, Sandown have added more in the way of entertainment and facilities, including the aforementioned Bavarian Beer Hall, which is proving a big hit with racing fans.
If you can’t go in person to the Christmas Festival, the next best thing is to watch the action unfold on TV. However, wherever you take the Tingle Creek in, using our odds comparison is the best way to find value bets!
Tingle Creek Festival FAQ
The Tingle Creek Festival takes place between Friday 6 December – Saturday 7 December. This two-day meeting features several high-profile encounters including the Betfair Winter Novices’ Hurdle Race and the Tingle Creek Chase which is the highlight race and has Jonbon as the strong favourite.
Sandown Park is one of the biggest racecourses in the United Kingdom and it’s the prestigious setting for the Tingle Creek Festival. Thousands of racegoers will snap up tickets to watch some high quality racing, with a mixture of novice and hurdle races set to take place.
The Tingle Creek Festival races are almost exclusively sponsored by betfair, with this bookmaker and sports betting exchange backing the sport of National Hunt racing through this sponsorship. Pertemps are among the other sponsors although it’s practically blanket coverage from betfair.
Tens of thousands of spectators will attend the Tingle Creek Festival, with this being one of the highest-profile race meetings of the season. Sandown Park expect to sell out all the enclosures for Day One and Day Two of the meeting, with racegoers getting the chance to enjoy some thrilling action.
The Betfair Winter Novices’ Hurdle Race is followed directly by The Betfair Esher Novices’ Steeple Chase on Day One of the Tingle Creek Festival. However, there’s no denying that the Tingle Creek Chase is the highlight encounter, with this being one of the highest-profile races on the National Hunt calendar.
The Tingle Creek Chase is a massive race and we’ve seen some notable winners in the past, including Moscow Flyer, Kauto Star and Altior. This encounter takes place over one mile, seven and a half furlongs, with Jonbon looking as though he could become the latest winner of this Grade One encounter.
We highly recommend the live stream service that is available through a number of online betting sites. In order to access the Bet and Watch service, you can simply log into your betting account and place a bet on the race which you want to watch.
At Racing-Odds.com, we work with the leading bookmakers in order to make sure that you get the best horse racing odds for the Tingle Creek Festival. Therefore, you can pick and choose from the available prices and bet on the selections which make the most appeal.
We recommend having betting accounts with a number of different bookies in order to bet on the Tingle Creek Festival. The best bookie is open to interpretation, with some customers valuing the biggest win odds, while others are looking for price boosts and extra places in order to benefit.