Joe Tizzard blog: ‘I think we’ll see an even better mare here’
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In the latest Joe Tizzard blog, the Coral ambassador previews his runners for this Saturday’s horse racing action at Sandown.
Joe Tizzard blog
We’re obviously just days away from the start of the Cheltenham Festival now, and it’s that time when we all keep everything crossed that there are no late dramas. We’ll have a small but select team of runners, I’ve kept Killer Kane in next Thursday’s Plate today, so I’ve just got one eye on running him.
They’ve done all their serious work now, and I’m really happy with how they are, so we just don’t want anything silly to go wrong. The weather forecast looks a bit drier, so we’ll hope for decent, good to soft ground, no excuses ground basically.
Before then, we have a decent Sandown Saturday card, so I’ve got three all with chances I hope. Sunset Marquesa is a lovely mare who has just got better as the season has gone on. She began by winning at Aintree, then went to Cheltenham in November and ran a big race to finish 4th, before picking up some black type in her last race at Market Rasen.
She’s really come into her Spring coat now, so I think we’ll see an even better mare here. She’s handled soft ground so I hope she’ll be fine on testing ground here, and having run well around Cheltenham, the uphill finish won’t bother her. I really like her, and she’ll be an even better hurdler next season, so this will probably be her last run of this season, and I think she can run a massive race.
Scarface took a bit of time to get the hang of chasing, but the last couple of times he’s been much more consistent, and he’s enjoying it now. I think he’s on a mark that just about gives him a chance of winning here, but he’s by no means thrown in.
This is a lovely pot to have a go at, and if Brendan [Powell] can get him into a nice rhythm, he should handle the ground, and in a competitive, open race, I hope he’d have a chance, but I must stress he’s not got much in hand off this current mark.
We’ve just missed her last couple of planned runs in mares-only races because of the wet weather, so we’re coming here in open company as she ran well here to finish second in the Grand Military Gold Cup back in January. She’s a consistent mare who stays well, so while this looks a tight contest to call, if she runs her usual race she’d have a chance.
