Il Etait Temps shows his time is now with stunning display in Tingle Creek

• Odds-on favourite victorious by nine lengths at Sandown

• Jonbon, winner for past two years, comes home second

Il Etait Temps, odds-on at 8-11, made it plain his trainer, Willie Mullins, will not relinquish his UK trainers’ championship without a struggle. He ran out a convincing winner of the Grade One Tingle Creek Chase here on Saturday, with Jonbon next across the line and L’Eau Du Sud, trained by the title-race leader, Dan Skelton, third.

The race was a three-cornered contest on paper and so it proved for much of the way. Jonbon, winner for the past two seasons, led the way with L’Eau Du Sud and Il Etait Temps in close attendance. All three were jumping superbly in a contest where a single mistake can be decisive, but as they rounded the final turn and headed towards the Pond fence, it was clear Paul Townend, on Il Etait Temps, was travelling significantly better than his rivals. Continue reading...