Horse

To a younger audience, the name Tingle Creek is probably best known from the title of what is now a Grade 1 steeplechase, run annually over 1 mile, 7 furlongs and 119 yards at Sandown Park in early December. The eponymous Tingle Creek was, in fact, a flamboyant, front-running two-mile steeplechaser who won 23 of his 52 races in Britain during the seventies.

Trained by Harry Thomson ‘Tom’ Jones and ridden, at various stages of his career, by
David Mould, Ian Watkinson and Steve Smith-Eccles, Tingle Creek excelled on rattlingly fast ground and particularly so at Sandown Park, where he became a standing dish. He won the Benson and Hedges Gold Cup – which would later be renamed in his honour – under 12st 5lb in 1973 and the Sandown Handicap Pattern Chase three times, in 1973, 1977 and 1978. breaking the course record on each occasion. Smith-Eccles said of him, ‘ I never rode a more exciting jumper.’

Tingle Creek was retired from racing in November 1978 and was described by Timeform as ‘on occasions the best two-mile chaser around when conditions were in his favour’. For all his exploits elsewhere, though, the popular chestnut never won at Cheltenham. Four of his six attempts at Prestbury Park came in the National Hunt Two-Mile Champion Chase – which would not be renamed in honour of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother until 1980, after his retirement – and his best effort was in 1974, when second to Royal Relief.

That said, Tingle Creek regularly locked horns with the leading lights in the two-mile chasing division and often beat them on unfavourable terms. In the autumn of 1977, for example, he gave 4lb and a 20-length beating to Menehall, who subsequently finished second to Hilly Way in the 1978 Champion Chase, in a handicap at Fontwell Park.

Although by no means contemporaries, Desert Orchid and Kauto Star were both, of course, legendary steeplechasers of the modern era. In fact, it was not until 13 years, almost to the day, after

Desert Orchid suffered a disappointing end to his illustrious career, when falling in the King George VI Chase at Kempton Park on Boxing Day, 1991, that Kauto Star made a winning debut for Paul Nicholls in a novices’ chase at Newbury on December 29, 2004.

Thankfully, though, Timeform ratings – which were first published for National Hunt racing in the early sixties – are designed specifically to allow direct comparison between horses from different generations. According to Timeform, Kauto Star was rated 191 and Desert Orchid 187, making them the joint-fifth and sixth highest-rated steeplechasers of the Timeform era. In other words, Kauto Star was rated 4lb superior to his predecessor, which is the equivalent of approximately 4 lengths, based on the typical pounds-per-length scale used for Jumps handicapping over the range of distances at which they raced.

However, in terms of prolificacy, it was the flying grey who held sway. All told, Desert Orchid won 34, or 49%, of his 70 races over hurdles and fences and amassed £654,066. As testament to his versatility, his career highlights including victories in the Tingle Creek Chase, the King George VI Chase (four times), the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Irish Grand National over distances ranging from 2 miles to 3 miles and 5 furlongs.

By contrast, Kauto Star had a much shorter career, contesting just 41 races over hurdles and fences, but nonetheless won 23, or 56%, of them and amassed an eye-watering £3,775,883 in total prize money. Paul Nicholls’ charge was no less versatile than Desert Orchid, winning the Tingle Creek Chase (twice), the King George VI Chase (a record five times), the Betfair Chase (a record four times) and the Cheltenham Gold Cup (twice).