Tizzard is still eyeing a ’crack at King George

COLIN TIZZARD reports Thistlecrack is on course for the defence of his 32Red King George VI Chase crown at Kempton on St Stephen’s Day.

The nine-year-old returned from an absence of 307 days in the Long Distance Hurdle at Newbury on Friday, fading into a well-beaten fifth.

‘The first thing is he trotted out fine this morning, which is good,’ said Tizzards.

‘When he had the little tear in his tendon, he had two months in the box, then he went out in the field for four months, then he came in and was walking for two months, so he has only been galloping for two months and it just showed at the end.

‘When he went between the third-last and the second-last, I thought ‘he’s going to win this’, but he blew up. He’s a big, heavy horse and when you reflect on the last 10 months it’s perfectly acceptable and we’ll push on now to the King George.’

He added: ‘We’ve had loads of horses improve massively for one run, it’s the best part of a month anyway (to Kempton).’