Joe Tizzard blog: ‘Elixir De Nutz is fresh and well and ready for this’

Coral presents the latest Joe Tizzard blog, with his runners preview for Sandown on Saturday and reflections on the season.

Nutz gave us our biggest day so far when winning the rescheduled Clarence House Chase at Cheltenham in January. It was my first Grade One success as a trainer, and also Fred’s [Gingell] first as a jockey, so it was a magical day. We may have needed a bit of luck, but that’s jump racing, the horse deserved it, and it can’t be taken away from us.

He was an outsider then, and he will be here, but he’s in great form, he’s beaten a few of these in the past, and we saved him for the better ground here rather than going to Aintree, so if he runs to his best, I can seen him picking up some decent prize money.

Elixir De Nutz odds: 33/1

Bourbali is a bonny little horse who I think the handicapper has got hold of. He’s so consistent he just never seems to get dropped a few pounds, but at least he got that win over fences at Kempton earlier in the season.

He’s won around Sandown before, and he jumps well, so really it’s whether he can won off this mark or not, and I fear he can run well but might just be up against it in terms of winning this.

Bourbali odds: 20/1

We’re going to fall just short of the £1 million in prize money mark for the season, and that’s down to the quieter summer we had last year. I’ll keep about 15 summer jumpers going this time around, and hopefully that can get us rolling in terms of prize money before the season steps up a gear in the autumn.

Overall I’ve been happy with how things have gone. The constant wet weather has given the season a stop-start feel to it, everyone was in the same boat, but there were times when we just couldn’t get any momentum going, with meetings lost and the going more testing than ideal, so hopefully we’ll all get a drier time next winter. 

As mentioned above, the highlight of the season was Elixir De Nutz winning the Clarence House Chase at Cheltenham, to give us a first Grade One win since I took the licence. Fred riding it made it extra special, and I was delighted for owner Terry Warner, who has been such a long time supporter of the yard. 

On that note, I’d like to thank all our owners for their support, we have a great group, and all the team here appreciate that.

Willie Mullins and Harry Cobden will be crowned champion trainer and jockey respectively this weekend, and both are hugely deserving of the titles. What Willie has achieved is nothing short of remarkable, and the fact it hasn’t been done for 70 years tells you how special it is. 

It should be celebrated, not seen as a sign that British trainers are struggling. Both Dan [Skelton] and Paul [Nicholls] have amassed big prize money totals, so they’ve not handed the title to Willie. Yes, he has the cream of the crop right now, but I know all the British trainers are up for the fight, I certainly am, and if Willie has raised the bar, it’s up to us to catch up.

We've known Harry since he was a young boy, and it was always clear he had the ability to go right to the top. He also had the right attitude to do well, he's polite, communicates well, and is a hard worker, and I'm chuffed that he has come out on top this season. He’s already said he probably won’t chase it again, but this is something that can’t be taken away from him.

His agent Sam Stronge also deserves a pat on the back, he took over from Dave Roberts when Dave retired, and the job he’s done in securing outside rides for Harry has played a big part in him winning the title, so I’m really pleased for Sam too.

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