Joe Tizzard: “I do think he’s one of my nicest horses”
Trainer and Coral ambassador Joe Tizzard previews his three runners at Newbury on Friday
This is a big weekend for us, as we’re taking several nice horses to Newbury over the two days of the Coral Gold Cup meeting, so I’m hopeful of some big performances.
We start with Call The Dawn in the opening contest. He ran a lovely race on debut last month, finishing second to the odds-on favourite, Gin Coco, who has since finished runner-up in the Greatwood Hurdle, and the fourth horse that day [Ivaldi], finished second to one of ours [Scarface] at Ascot at the weekend, so it was a lovely performance from a four-year-old.
It was good ground at Newton Abbot, so I don’t see him having any issues with decent ground here. I’m expecting him to improve plenty from that first run, and even though he’s up against some expensive point-to-point purchases here, I’d be hopeful of him running a huge race.
We bought Off To A Flyer at last December’s Cheltenham Sale, and really liked him, so it was disappointing when he only finished fifth in a Bumper at Taunton in the spring, as he’d been working well going into that.
However, looking back, he just didn’t get home in softish ground that day. He’s summered really well, he’s a big, strong horse, and I do think he’s one of my nicest novices.
I’m sure he’ll improve for the run, but he won an Irish point-to-point so it’s no surprise that he’s schooled well over hurdles at home. His future is definitely over fences, but I love how he’s strengthened up over the summer, and I’m very excited about him for this season. I’d be disappointed if he didn’t run a nice race here.
Newbury 2.30 – The Widdow Maker
Our final runner of the day is The Widdow Maker in a £50,000 handicap chase that has cut up a bit in terms of the final field size, with only six declared, so selfishly that makes his task easier here, although I suppose everyone will be thinking the same!
He’s a lovely horse, with some decent form to his name, and he’s improved for his first run of the season.
He’s matured now, which means we’ll leave the hood off him for the race this time, instead he will just have the red hood, which he keeps on just for the preliminaries, and will be removed once he’s at the start.
Despite the small field, it looks a wide-open little race, with nothing standing out as the one to beat, so I hope we can pick up some decent prize money.
Joe
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