Thistle do for me, says Tizz
COLIN TIZZARD yesterday reported King George VI Chase title-holder Thistlecrack “a completely different horse” to the one who met with defeat on his comeback from injury at Newbury 23 days ago.
Thistlecrack gave a breathtaking display at Kempton last Christmas, beating his stablecompanion Cue Card by three and a quarter lengths.
But, having been forced by a tendon injury to miss the Cheltenham Gold Cup last March, the nineyear-old beat just one rival home in Newbury’s Long Distance Hurdle at the start of the month.
The Dorset trainer blamed a lack of fitness for Thistlecrack’s below-par return to action, and Tizzard said yesterday: “He’s a completely different horse now — he looks immaculate.
“He was late coming in because of his tear, and we had it in our head that he couldn’t go to the King George without a run.
“The plan was always to run him over hurdles, and he was a bit free at Newbury, but we’ve schooled him in the school and on the grass and he’s been brilliant.
“He’ll have to be, though, because it’s a hot race.”
Tizzard is two-handed in the field of eight as Fox Norton steps up to three miles for the first time.
Last season’s Queen Mother Champion Chase runner-up — he lost out to Special Tiara by just a head — finished a halflength second to Politologue in Sandown Park’s Tingle Creek Chase, also over two miles.
“We’ve got to try him at it, and I think he actually needs it,” added Tizzard.
“Lots of horses have started off at two miles and gone up to three. Sizing John, the Gold Cup winner, started off at two miles.
“If he gets it, he’s a big player. If he doesn’t, we can always come back to two miles.”