Thistle crocked in Gold Cup bid
THISTLECRACK, the 6-4 favourite for the Cheltenham Gold Cup, will miss the race.
The novice chaser has injured a tendon, which can mean up to 12 months off.
His trainer Colin Tizzard is hopeful his top novice will be back sooner, but is aware that may be optimistic.
“Thistlecrack is out for the season, unfortunately,” said the trainer. “He had some heat in his leg last night and was a bit sore.
“We had it scanned this morning and he has a slight tear on his tendon.
“We hadn’t done any fast work with him. We thought we’d give him a busy week this week. Obviously it stems from his last race at Cheltenham, but that’s racing. That’s horses for you.
“I asked the vet ‘Are we talking about next season off or are we talking about from Christmas on and he’ll be fine?’ and he said he should be absolutely fine by Christmas, to have him back on a racecourse by then.
“It’s not that we’re going to miss next season, but things change.”
Punters and owners can underestimate the damage a race like Thistlecrack’s recent Cheltenham head-to-head with Many Clouds can do.
The pair finished 17 lengths clear of the others in their Gold Cup trial. One died on the day – the other needs six to nine months off.
Stablemate Native River has replaced Thistlecrack as Ladbrokes’ 11-4 Gold Cup favourite, with another Tizzard star, Cue Card, 7-2.
Djakadam, who has finished runner-up in the last two Gold Cups, is a tempting 9-2, given he likes Cheltenham.