National Hunt Racing - The Big Winners

The Tingle Creek Chase, is a Grade 1 Steeplechase run at Sandown Park Racecourse in Surrey, England. It is run over a distance of two miles and there are thirteen fences to be jumped. It is for horses five years old and upwards.

The Tingle Creek Chase is named after the very good two mile chaser Tingle Creek (Chestnut gelding, born 1966, sire Goose Creek – dam Martingle) who was trained by Harry Thomson Jones a very successful racehorse trainer in Newmarket. He trained flat horses and jumpers alike with considerable success. To put Thomson Jones dual purpose ability of training racehorses into perspective, in 1971, the same afternoon that he trained Athens Wood to win the Doncaster St Leger he also trained Ramequin to win a juvenile hurdle at Fakenham worth £272.

The Tingle Creek Chase was originally a race called the Sandown Handicap Pattern Chase but was later renamed the Tingle Creek Handicap Chase in honour of Tingle Creek who ran in and was the winner of the corresponding race numerous times.

In 1988 the race name was amended to Tingle Creek Chase Limited Handicap which reflected a change in race conditions. In a Limited Handicap weights between top and bottom horses are kept narrow so as to attract top horses whilst not making them give large concessions of weight to the other runners.

From 1994 onwards the handicap was removed with horses carrying the same weights in addition the race became a Grade 1 contest (up from Grade 2).

The Tingle Creek Chase has been won by some of the very best two mile chasers including Master Minded, Moscow Flyer, Viking Flagship and Flagship Uberalles (the last two named being half brothers). These four horses were also winners of the Queen Mother Champion Chase at the Cheltenham Festival and trainers naturally use the Tingle Creek as one of the stepping stones for the campaign of a top two miler on the road to Cheltenham. Other races to be aimed at for a Champion Chase bound two mile horse are the Haldon Gold Cup at Exeter Racecourse, Castleford Chase at Wetherby Racecourse, Victor Chandler Handicap Chase at Ascot Racecourse and the Game Spirit Chase at Newbury Racecourse.

* The 2000 running took place at Cheltenham Racecourse over a distance of 2 miles and 110 yards

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