Henry de Bromhead's charge could emerge as the main threat to Jonbon
Henry de Bromhead will be hoping Quilixios can provide him with a second success in the Grade 1 Tingle Creek at Sandown on Saturday, thirteen years on from Sizing Europe's triumph.
The Henry de Bromhead-trained 2021 Triumph Hurdle hero was forced out of action the following season through injury and although victories at Limerick and Naas proved he retained plenty of his ability, the Chevely Park-owned seven-year-old made his seasonal reappearance this season with something to prove following defeats in the Grade 1 Arkle at Cheltenham and Maghull Novices' Chase at Aintree a month later.
However, he quickly got his new campaign off to a flying start when readily brushing aside the highly-touted 2023 Supreme Novices' Hurdle hero Marine Nationale in the Grade 3 Barberstown Castle Chase at Naas in early November, leaving connections purring at the chance to step him back into top-level company.
"He seems in great form and we're looking forward to going over," said De Bromhead on a media call organised by the Jockey Club. "He's got good form on everything. I was probably a little bit concerned about the better ground at Naas the other day, but he seemed to handle that really well, and he won a good race at Naas back in January on very testing ground, so I think he's pretty adaptable.
"I was very happy with the performance (last month). I thought he jumped great and galloped to the line well and I was delighted with him – it was great to see him back.
"He had a bit of a mixed season last year, so we wanted to see where we were. He answered all our questions really well, we hope he'll improve for the run as well and the Tingle Creek was an obvious race to have a go at."
Standing in his way is Nicky Henderson's defending champion Jonbon, who is a general 1/2 chance for the Sandown feature on Saturday, with sponsors Betfair making Quilixios their 11/2 second-favourite.
On the prospect of meeting Henderson's multiple Grade 1 winner, De Bromhead said: "Jonbon is obviously very good and he's going to be very hard to beat, but at least we'll know where we stand for the rest of the season. I have a fondness for any of these Grade 1's, but the Tingle Creek is a famous race, and we'd love to win it again."
Quilixios won't be the only horse making the journey across the Irish Sea to Esher, with Joseph O'Brien's Solness, who finished an excellent second to the Gordon Elliott-trained Found A Fifty in the Fortria Chase at Navan, also hoping to take away a slice of the prize-money.
"He's a tough horse. He's been very consistent, he had a good run at Navan last time and I think he has a realistic chance to collect some prize money," said O'Brien, who will saddle his first runner over jumps at Sandown this weekend.
"He's pretty durable, he's won over hurdles and over fences this year. We'll continue to mix and match it wherever he can collect some money throughout the season.
"He jumped very well last time. He was a shade unlucky, there was a bit of argy-bargy over the last and he arguably would have got even closer without that, but he was beaten a neck by a very good horse. It sets him up well for here.
"He's very straightforward but he likes to be ridden positively. He'll stick to two miles; we tried him over further at Clonmel and it just stretched him out a bit. A fast run two miles with an emphasis on jumping suits him well and that's what he might get at the weekend.
"He ran well in a Grade 2 last time, it's going to be a small field, and he's earned a crack at it."
