Joe Tizzard on his day one Cheltenham chances
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I’m so excited now and just can’t wait to get there and get on with it
I won’t be able to sleep tonight, in fact I haven’t been able to for the last week or so. I’m really excited now. We’ve had a busy couple of weeks, and the issues with Thistlecrack and Finian’s Oscar, but I’m so excited now and just can’t wait to get there and get on with it. I love Cheltenham and I love the Festival, we all do, so we’re just glad it’s here now.
In the morning we’ll all be in the yard at 6am, my sister Kim will be in a bit earlier, and we’ll ride a couple out. We’ll make sure all the Cheltenham horses are out first lot, then get the declarations done, before we head off to Cheltenham just before 9am. We’ll be there by 11am. I just can’t wait.
If Pingshou finishes in the first half a dozen we’ll be delighted
We run Pingshou in the Supreme. There are only fourteen runners so it has cut up a bit, but it’s still ultra-competitive. If Pingshou finishes in the first half a dozen we’ll be delighted with him. He’s a nice horse and he’s got course form so I think he’ll run a good race. He’ll bounce out nice and handy and I’m sure he’ll still be there coming down the hill. The pressure for us doesn’t really build until later in the week, and this is a nice way to start, and it would obviously be nice if he could go and finish in the first four. Stranger things have happened.
We run Theatre Guide and Viconte Du Noyer and both horses are in cracking form
The Ultima Handicap is incredibly competitive. It’s practically 10/1 the field and you’ll need an awful lot of luck in running. We run Theatre Guide and Viconte Du Noyer and both horses are in cracking form. They’ve both won around Cheltenham this season. Theatre Guide showed that he is capable of being competitive off this kind of mark when third at Kempton on his last run. Viconte Du Noyer wasn’t right after his last run and he’s really started to shine at home. At a big price I think he’s got a decent each way chance.
we’d be delighted if he could steal a bit of prize money
Sizing Tennessee runs for us in the last and it’s a very tight handicap, with just 5lbs covering the field. Our horse has snuck in there and we are putting blinkers on him for the first time. Everything he does is quite laid back, and when Aidan Coleman schooled him last week he was jumping up in the air, so we put blinkers on him and they really woke him up. So, we decided we wouldn’t put them on again and leave them until the day. It’s a very competitive race and we’d be delighted if he could steal a bit of prize money.
Douvan we know turns up and he has a clear run he’s going to take a hell of a lot of beating
On Wednesday, we’ve declared both Fox Norton and Sizing Granite for the Champion Chase. If you take Douvan out it’s an extremely open race. If the Douvan we know turns up and he has a clear run he’s going to take a hell of a lot of beating. He’s an amazing horse. But Fox Norton has come on for his run at Newbury that we knew he would. He schooled lovely last week and is in really good form. He deserves to be in the shake-up. I think Sizing Granite is more of an Aintree horse but his coat is coming through nicely, and he has won a Grade One before, so he deserves his place. I think he’s a spring horse and he’s just coming right so he’s worth keeping an eye on.
