Un De Sceaux, the 2015 Arkle Trophy winner, will represent Willie Mullins in the Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown Park on Saturday after the trainer decided to withdraw Douvan, the brilliant winner of this season’s Arkle back in March, at the final declaration stage on Thursday morning.
The absence of Douvan from the final list of runners for Saturday’s Grade One event was a blow for ante-post punters who had backed him from 5-1 to 4-7 earlier this week.
However, Mullins appeared to suggest on Thursday that the six-year-old had never been a likely runner this weekend, despite claims from bookmakers that “faces” had been backing Douvan which had helped to stoke up the gamble earlier in the week. Boylesports, in particular, reported on Tuesday that “all the people we respect are on”.
“It was an easy enough decision to make,” Mullins said on At The Races. “It was probably Un De Sceaux all the time as he’s used to travelling to France and the UK, while Douvan is only a novice going into Grade One company, against horses who are well used to running in Grade Ones.
“I had him [Douvan] in the race, but unless he was really sparkling I wasn’t going to send him and when I worked him he didn’t do enough for me for a big test like that, it’s early enough in the season.
“The ideal race for Un De Sceaux would have been the Hilly Way [Chase at Cork on Sunday week], but Douvan will go there now. I just want to get Douvan back and we’ll take it one race at a time.”
Un De Sceaux is the favourite for Saturday’s race at a top price of 15-8, while Ar Mad, the winner of the Henry VIII Novice Chase over the same course and distance 12 months ago, is a 100-30 chance.
Sire De Grugy, who returned to Grade One-winning form in last season’s Tingle Creek, is a 7-2 chance, while Gods Own, a Grade One winner at last season’s Punchestown Festival, is 5-1. Vibrato Valtat (25-1), another former winner of the Henry VIII Novice Chase, and Sir Valentino, a 40-1 outsider, complete the field.
