Betfair Tingle Creek at Sandown: Quilixios and Solness lead Irish challenge in Saturday's Grade 1

• Trainers discuss Irish challenge for Betfair Tingle Creek

• De Bromhead says Quilixos answered every question in last run

• O'Brien says Solness is a realistic prize money shout

This Saturday's Betfair Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown should be one of the highlights of the first half of the jumps racing season.

Nicky Henderson's Jonbon is the 1/21.50 favourite as he aims for a second consecutive win in the Grade 1.

But there is a significant Irish challenge in the field with Henry de Bromhead's Quilixios second in the market at 11/26.50.

De Bromhead - "Betfair Tingle Creek was obvious choice for Quilixios"

The Gold Cup winning trainer is optimistic about his horse's chances.

"Quilixios is in great shape," said De Bromhead. "We are looking forward to coming over.

"He has good form on all ground. I was concerned about the good ground at Naas last month but he won very well on that. He won a good race there on testing ground in January. He is pretty adaptable.

"I was very happy with his win at Naas on 10 November. It was great to see him back and galloping to the line. He had a mixed season last year (at Aintree in the spring, he was not 100 per cent) so we wanted to see how he was after Naas.

"He answered all our questions at Naas. The Tingle Creek was the obvious race to have a go out."

De Bromhead also had good news to report on Betfair ambassador Rachael Blackmore's (pictured above) return to riding.

He said: "The plan is for Darragh O'Keefe to come over to ride in the Betfair Tingle Creek. He is flying at the moment... But Rachael Blackmore is not far off from being back."

De Bromhead went on to stress the prestige of the Betfair Tingle Creek, saying:

"I have a fondness for any Grade 1 but the Tingle Creek is a famous race that we would love to be winning.

"Jonbon is a very good horse and is going to be very hard to beat. After the Tingle Creek we will know where Quilixios stands for the rest of the season."

Joseph O'Brien: "Solness is realistic shout to collect prize money"

Joseph O'Brien's Solness is 20/121.00 in the antepost market but he was upbeat about his horse's chances at Sandown.

"He's a progressive, tough horse. He's been very consistent this season, had a good run at Navan last time and is a realistic shout to collect some prize money.

"He takes his racing very well and is very durable. He will continue to mix and match it throughout the season. He doesn't like ground that is too soft.

"He showed battling qualities in the Fortria at Navan last time out and was arguably a shade unlucky. He was beaten a neck by a very good horse and that sets him up nicely for this.

"A fast two miles is what suits him and that may be what he gets [at Sandown] at the weekend...It is going to be a smallish field, I imagine, and he has earned a crack at it."

Joseph also has another up and coming horse, Jordans, running at Sandown on Saturday in the earlier Betfair Henry VIII Novices' Chase.

What has he learned about the five-year-old in the time he has had him in the yard?

"He's a lovely horse. He won very well at Punchestown then went back there and got brought down, through not fault of his own. He was fine afterwards.

"The Betfair Henry VIII Novices' Chase is a great chance for him to have a shot at Grade 1 company. He is certainily not slow, so two miles for him is fine, but he could go to two-and-a-half. He can be a bit keen and has worn a hood which may come off next time. He is pretty striaghtforward."

We will have previews and tips for the Betfair Tingle Creek Chase in the coming days so read Betting.Betfair for the best Sandown insight.

Read more Betfair Tingle Creek previews and get our experts' tips for Saturday's Grade 1