Joe Tizzard: “A Master Debonair win wouldn’t surprise me.”

Team Tizzard have plenty of runners on Sunday

Sunday – Cheltenham

Cheltenham 1.50

Pingshou is a very good horse, who unfortunately missed last season with a tendon injury, but before that was a Grade One winner at Aintree. He’s schooled very well at home, but is sure to improve for this run as he’s been off for so long. 

We are chucking him in at the deep end here, but he’ll learn plenty around this course, and he is one of our most exciting novice chasers.

Cheltenham 2.25

We’ve tried every trip with Sizing Granite – he’s a Grade One winner over two miles, and he’s run well over three miles.  We did put him in this race after it reopened, he loves good ground and he’s normally better in the spring, but he seems well at home, and with Altior not running here, it looks wide open.  

Cheltenham 3.30

Elixir De Nutz is a proper horse.  He got into a ding dong battle here last time, only getting beaten by a nice horse of Olly Murphy’s [Thomas Darby], and we think he’s improved for that run. 

This is a step up, but he deserves to be here, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he ran a massive race.

Cheltenham 4.00

Master Debonair was another who finished second at the last meeting here, and we’re trying to find out if he’s good enough to be a champion bumper horse.  He’s superbly bred, and more importantly he’s a racehorse. He’s sharpened up at home, and I really do like him a lot.

It wouldn’t surprise me if he won here, and if he does, we’d look after him until the Champion Bumper [at the Cheltenham Festival].  We have already schooled him over hurdles, but we do think he’s good enough to go down the Champion Bumper route first.

Fontwell 2.40

Wizards Bridge is a consistent sort who wins his share of races, but he is handicapped to reflect that.  This 3 mile 3 furlong trip will be no problem for him, and these long distance handicaps will be where he runs now.

Fontwell 3.15

Kalarika didn’t jump great last time at Chepstow, and that probably cost her the race, but she’s certainly capable of winning off this mark. 

We have schooled her over fences, which will hopefully sharpen her jumping up, so if she concentrates and hurdles better here, she could take a lot of beating.