TEAM TIZZARD
Colin and family are boxing clever in race for a King George hat-trick
AWIN for either Lostintranslation or Thistlecrack in Boxing Day’s Ladbrokes King George VI Chase at Kempton will go down in the record books as a third success in the race for Dorset trainer Colin Tizzard.
But, in reality, it will be victory for Team Tizzard. Colin may be the figurehead of the operation but former jockey son Joe and daughter Kim are his trusted lieutenants, with wife Pauline the glue to holding the operation together.
Colin admits he would be happy to acknowledge their team work by having more than just his name on the trainer’s licence — something that happens in some overseas jurisdictions and something the BHA has said it is considering.
‘We are all little cogs working for the same thing. When they are all turning together it works brilliantly,’ is how Kim describes the secret of the Tizzard success.
When Kim returned home after a stint as nanny for former trainer Simon Sherwood, the man who also rode legendary Desert Orchid to two (1986 & 1988) of his four King George wins, there were a dozen Tizzard-trained racehorses being trained alongside their herd of dairy cows. Now there are over 100 horses in a spanking new stable.
The emergence of the family operation has been one of jump racing’s stories of the decade.
From dairy farmers dabbling in horseracing to championship contenders with a string including 2018 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Native River and Elegant Escape, the favourite for Friday’s Coral Welsh National at Chepstow.
Joe said: ‘We are still a reasonably young yard. We only sold the cows 12 months ago to push our racing business so we are not slowing down. We want to keep pushing and I suppose that ultimately means you want to be champion trainer.
‘We are a little way off it at the moment but ultimately that has to be the goal. There would be no point doing it if you didn’t think that.
‘We are getting more horses every year and better horses. We are putting better systems in place to buy and train the horses.
‘Selling the cows was a big change for our family. It’s what got us started. It was how dad was brought up and it was a big decision.
‘We went for a drive in the truck for a few hours and chatted about it and I don’t think we have looked back for a second. It has made life a lot easier.’
So has that ability for the Tizzard team to delegate roles.
Joe does all the entries and, more comfortable in the spotlight after his successful days in the saddle, has also developed into the stable frontman, more often than not the spokesman but also searching out new clients and owners.
It was Joe who was initially contacted by Lostintranslation’s owners Paul Taylor and Richard O’Dwyer.
Kim is head of logistics. From organising the feed and staff, to making sure transport is organised to take all the runners to the races.
That leaves Colin more time for what he loves and excels at — watching the horses on the gallops and making sure they are in top shape for the races. Joe added: ‘Things have just evolved as we have got busier and learned to delegate. We all know our roles. I am the one who tends to going racing the most, so I am seen the most.
Kim added: ‘It’s a lot of work, seven days a week. We don’t have much time off. This is our life.
There is a lot of pressure but it is great when it goes right.
‘Dad is the boss and Mum, bless her, does a hell of a lot behind the scenes and doesn’t get enough credit for what she does.’
For all it is a family affair, the spotlight will inevitably on Colin on Boxing Day.
His King George wins came via Thistlecrack, the 2016 winner who will line-up again in the £250,000 race, and the popular Cue Card, the horse whose eight grade One race wins put the Tizzard stable on the map, in 2015.
Lostintranslation is the horse that now occupies Cue Card’s old box and invested in him are massive hopes for the future.
Robbie Power’s mount won the three-mile-one-and-a-half furlong Betfair Chase at Haydock.
If he can land the King George VI Chase, it will put Lostintranslation in line for a £1million bonus put up by the Jockey Club if he can also capture the Cheltenham Gold Cup in March.
Colin said: ‘Thistlecrack is in good form but Lostintranslation has the best chance, no doubt.’