The Tingle Creek race gets underway on Saturday with Irish horse Sizing Europe is the red-hot favourite to win.

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Henry De Bromhead's nine-year-old is the reigning champion chaser having produced a spectacular performance at Cheltenham in March when beating Big Zeb by five lengths, and he turned in another great effort when going down by just three quarters of a length to the same horse at Punchestown the following month. 

In his two runs since, he's been campaigned over further than 2m, winning a Grade 2 chase over 2m4f at Gowran Park, before making the smart Quito De La Roque pull out all the stops at Down Royal when stepped up again to 3m. 

Clearly, he stays further than the minimum but a fast run 2m suits him best and with several front runners due to line up on Saturday, a strong gallop looks assured.

Also in his favour is that none of the placed horses in the Champion Chase are reopposing, and nor for that matter are any of the principals from last season's Arkle in the field, which is unusual for a Tingle Creek. 

This is far from an easy task, however, as he faces some strong opposition in the shape of the Paul Nicholls-trained Tataniano and, such is the trainer's record in this race (won the last six renewals), that you have to give this horse plenty of respect, as you should Nicholls' other runner, Kauto Stone, although his participation depends on plenty of rain. 

Tataniano would be the first string, though, based on an impressive novice chase campaign two seasons ago and, while he failed to live up to high expectations in two starts last season, he looked close to his best when winning a handicap at Chepstow on his reappearance in impressive fashion, which would have put him spot on for this.

He likes to dominate and, given the way he travelled and jumped at Chepstow, I would expect his pilot Ruby Walsh to try and make all, which would ensure his backers get a great run for their money - they might even be able to trade out at a much shorter price than the current 7/2 (Skybet) in-running. 

However, this is a big step up in class and his official rating of 169 leaves him with plenty to find with the top-rated Sizing Europe (177), who would surely win if he runs up to form. 

That's the big question for punters and there is a case for thinking that the Irish raider will not be seen at his best here less than a month after having a hard race over 3m - hardly an ideal preparation - and given that he's always looked a spring horse, although that is reflected in his current best odds of 15/8 (Sportingbet) to some extent.

There's also Wishfull Thinking (4/1 Paddy Power) to consider. The Philip Hobbs-trained runner is another who likes to be prominent and, given that he appeared to stay 2m5f well last season and was even being considered for the RSA Chase at one stage, his jockey Richard Johnson is sure to make plenty use of him. 

It could be his downfall, though, with Tataniano likely to take him on and they could set the race up perfectly for SIZING EUROPE, who looks worth backing if he drifts from the current 7/4. 

That's a distinct possibility as the Nicholls-Walsh combo is always well backed and the race day market has been particularly punter-friendly on recent Saturday's, with bookmakers betting to a small percentage in an attempt to attract your money. 

Take Binocular, for example. He was 4/6 with one bookie and 11/10 with another, so I think there is every chance we could see Sizing Europe to drift out to a very backable 2/1, or even bigger.