Thistlecrack on track for King George

THISTLECRACK is favourite to win his comeback race at Newbury on Friday after a positive update from trainer Colin Tizzard. Coral make the 2016 King George VI Chase winner even money to win the three-mile Long Distance Hurdle he landed in 2015. He has been off the track since losing to Many Clouds at Cheltenham in January, but Tizzard said: ‘Thistlecrack has had a racecourse gallop and done a lot of work. He is fit. It is a prep-race for the King George but he will go there to race. This is a big ask, but he is a good horse.’ The King George is also the target for Bristol De Mai, a 57-length winner of Saturday’s Betfair Chase from Tizzard’s Cue Card. While the testing Haydock conditions exaggerated Bristol De Mai’s superiority, trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies is keen to show he is not just good on soft ground.