Posts Tagged ‘master minded’

The Tingle Creek Trophy is a Grade 1 National Hunt race open to horses aged five years and older. The race is run over two miles in early December at Sandown Park racecourse. It is named after the horse Tingle Creek who had a great record at Sandown during the 1970’s.

Tingle Creek Trends
Trainer Paul Nicholls has an outstanding record in the race with 5 winners in the last 10 renewals.

Dual winners are common. In the last 10 years, Flagship Uberalles won 3 times and Moscow Flyer and Kauto Star have won twice.

Look for horse at the head of the betting, outsiders do not win this race often.

2008 Tingle Creek Trophy
This year’s renewal sees Paul Nicholls’ Master Minded make his seasonal debut. In this year’s Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham, Master Minded put up a performance the likes of which we don’t see very often. He looked like a world beater. It was a different story the following month at Aintree though where his colours were lowered in no uncertain fashion by Vor Poy Ustedes.

With Ruby Walsh out injured, 2nd stable jockey Sam Thomas has been deputising for Nicholls. Things haven’t gone as smoothly as they did for Thomas last year though and there is talk of him being jocked off Master Minded and Tony McCoy taking the ride in the Tingle Creek.

Master Minded is currently a very short 1/2 favourite. Although there is no denying the horse’s ability, he’s the highest rated horse in training, it’s not a price I’d want to be taking with the furore surrounding the Nicholls stable at the moment.

Last year’s winner Twist Magic is becoming a little frustrating. He looked to have a great chance at Exeter last time in the William Hill Gold Cup but finished a disappointing 4th. If he’s on top of his game, he’ll be in with a good chance of making it back to back wins but that is a big if.

Nicky Henderson’s Jack The Giant is an interesting contender. He was very impressive at Ascot last time and with the form the stable are currently in, this horse could really provide Team Nicholls with some tough opposition.

Tingle Creek Trophy Resources
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Master Minded turned the 2008 Queen Mother Champion Chase into a procession and became the first five year old to win the event in 49 renewals. The race didn’t look like it was going to be as special as in recent years with no Well Chief, Moscow Flyer or Azertyuiop in the starting line up but Master Minded made sure it was a classic.

Visually, I haven’t seen a better performance over 2 miles in my lifetime. He was foot perfect, went clear from 2 out and beat Voy Por Ustedes by an eased down 19 lengths. Bear in mind Voy Por Ustedes was probably the best horse in training over this distance in recent times, having won the Queen Mother in 2007 as well as the Arkle in 2006. Voy Por did get his revenge at Aintree the following month when the ground came up a bit quicker. Master Minded made a mistake 2 out and couldn’t recover.

The Aintree race played to Voy Por Ustedes strengths being over a longer trip on better ground but then I suppose you could say the same about Master Minded with Cheltenham. With more improvement to come, I’d expect Master Minded to confirm places this time around but I’d certainly not be taking 5/4 at this stage. Voy Por Ustedes currently rates a 4/1 chance which again makes no appeal to me. I know a lot can happen between now and March but unless there is something drastic, I can’t see the prices of these two being a lot different come the day.

The 2008 Arkle winner Tidal Bay could well be the one to pose the most serious challenge to the front two in the market. Arkle winners have a great record in this race for obvious reasons and I fancy Tidal Bay to continue this trend. The current price of 11/2 is probably about right.

I’m not sure what happened to Twist Magic last season. He looked a world beater on his Tingle Creek performance when beating Voy Por Ustedes but he didn’t build on that and was turned over at Ayr next time when finishing 2nd to Tamarinbleu in the Victor Chandler Chase. He followed that with a terrible run in the Queen Mother before winning the Kerrygold Champion Chase at Punchestown. Trainer Paul Nicholls believes he will be a better horse this season and if the ground at Cheltenham is a bit quicker, I wouldn’t rule him out. Of all the horses in the ante post market, Twist Magic is the one I would be most tempted to have a punt on and is available at 14/1 at the time of writing.

Takeroc is also a 14/1 chance but makes a lot less appeal to me than Twist Magic at the same price. His best piece of form is a 6 lengths 2nd to Tidal Bay in the John Smith’s Maghull Novices’ Chase at Aintree. Nicholls will likely get some more out of him this season but the price isn’t big enough for me to warrant a bet.

It’s hard to see either Fair Along or Tamarinbleu troubling any of the principals. For me, Tamarinbleu was a revelation last season. He won the Boylesports.com Gold Cup at Cheltenham in impressive fashion before stealing the Victor Chandler Chase at Ascot under an enterprising ride from Tom Scudamore, but was found out in the Queen Mother as well as the Melling Chase. I’m sure Tamainbleu will win races this season but whether that will be against the best two mile chasers in the country remains to be seen.

Two years ago I thought Fair Along was a very decent animal but it turns out he’s a bit of a dog. Maybe Phillip Hobbs can get him back to his best but he’s just put in too many erratic performances to carry any of my money.

2009 Queen Mother Champion Chase Betting - Get the latest odds on the big race.

2009 Queen Mother Champion Chase Trends - Champion Chase trends and statistics.

2009 Queen Mother Champion Chase Tips - Champion Hurdle tips from the EBA Forum.