Clash of the titans a real party piece
WHEN Cue Card landed the 32Red King George VI Chase at Kempton last year, the traditional Boxing Day party hosted by trainer Colin Tizzard turned into a ‘bloody good night’.
Goodness knows how Tizzard will describe the celebrations this time round if everything goes to plan.
Five horses will line up in two days’ time, one of them the Paul Nichollstrained Silviniaco Conti, a dual King George winner.
But it will be a major shock if the winner of the biggest domestic steeplechase this side of the Cheltenham Gold Cup in March is not being toasted in the corner of Dorset that dairy farmer turned trainer Tizzard calls home.
Cue Card may be the marginal favourite with some bookmakers but stablemate Thistlecrack is sharing his place at the head of the ante-post betting with others.
The showdown has evoked memories of the four Gold Cup clashes between Nicholls’ duo Denman and record fivetime King George winner Kauto Star, the stablemates who lived their lives in adjacent boxes.
As then, this match-up is almost impossible to call. In one corner stands 10-year-old Cue Card, a veteran of 33 races and a horse who first hit the public consciousness when winning the Champion Bumper at the 2010 Cheltenham Festival.
Facing him is eight-year-old Thistlecrack, a late developer and a winner in 12 of his 17 contests. If successful, the mount of Tom Scudamore will become the first novice to win the £200,000 race. Tizzard said: ‘In an ideal world, with two beautiful horses, you would probably not take each other on but these are championship races.
‘You don’t do it every week but the King George and Gold Cup are the biggest two races of the year and if they have got to take each other on, they’ve got to.
‘I don’t mind getting beaten. That happens every day of the week. As long as they come back safe, that’s my view. I won’t feel sorry for Cue Card if Thistlecrack beats him or the other way round.’
If pushed, Tizzard admits he probably has a softer spot for his long-time ally Cue Card, who won his third Betfair Chase at Haydock last month, and emphasises just how tough Paddy Brennan’s mount will be to beat.
Tizzard added: ‘He is 10 coming 11 and he is still as enthusiastic as he was when he was a three-year-old but bigger and stronger.
‘We changed his work partner last week. We got our fastest young horse out and worked him with Cue Card — he’d been beating everything — and Cue Card beat him by three lengths. Just beautiful.
‘That’s the sort of form he is in. It doesn’t mean he is going to win the King George but the horse is in good form. There is no question he will go there as good as he went to Haydock, probably better.’
The decision to run Thistlecrack was made by his owners, Heather and John Snook, and Tizzard’s admiration for him knows no bounds. The trainer added: ‘It is not until he comes to the races that he grows three inches and looks an absolute machine. He is a brilliant horse.
‘He can gallop with anything and his jumping looks pretty steady now. He could easily win a King George.’
It is likely to come down to how the jumping of Thistlecrack, tackling only his fourth steeplechase, stands up in what will be the fastest tempo he has been asked to race over fences.
If it holds together, Thistlecrack, with so much natural talent, could have too much for Cue Card and then become hot favourite for the Gold Cup.
A win for Thistlecrack would end Cue Card’s chance of a £1million bonus given to a chaser that wins the Betfair Chase, King George and Gold Cup.
But a one-two in any order would still push Tizzard’s seasonal prizemoney through the £1m barrier.
That’s enough to make any Boxing Day party really swing.