Cue Card to miss King George in favour of spring campaign before retirement

Cue Card, one of the most popular steeplechasers of the last decade, is likely to miss the King George VI Chase at Kempton Park on Boxing Day before a three-race swansong at Ascot, Cheltenham and Aintree in the spring of 2018, the 11-year-old’s trainer said here on Friday. “Then,” Colin Tizzard added, “I’ll have him as my hunter.”

As recently as Wednesday, reports suggested that Cue Card would be part of a three-strong team for the King George from the Tizzard stable, alongside Thistlecrack, last year’s winner, and Fox Norton, the runner-up in last weekend’s Tingle Creek Chase. Instead, he may not be seen on a track until the Grade One Ascot Chase in February, a race he has won twice in the past.

“We probably won’t run Cue Card,” Tizzard said. “I was talking to Jean [Bishop, the gelding’s owner] and we’ll probably just mind him a little [as] the King George is a bit red-hot. He had a hard old race at Haydock [behind Bristol De Mai in the Betfair Chase] and we just want to have three runs in the spring and then retire him, I think that’s what we’ll do. We want to treat him properly, and that King George, it’s going to be a hot race, so we can go to Ascot, then come here for the Ryanair or the Gold Cup [in March] and then to Aintree.

“He’s a lovely horse and he’s nearly as good as he’s ever been. There’s no need for us to back off, he’s a racehorse and we’ll have three nice spring races.”

Thistlecrack, who produced an exceptional display to win the King George as a novice last season, remains on course for Kempton despite an underwhelming return from injury in the Long Distance Hurdle at Kempton a fortnight ago. He will be joined in the field by Nicky Henderson’s Whisper, the runner-up to Total Recall in the Ladbroke Trophy at Newbury, who was confirmed as an intended runner by the trainer on Friday, and can be backed at a top price of 16-1.

“[Thistlecrack] schooled well this week,” Tizzard said. “We might have been a bit kind to him [before Newbury] but we were always catching up, and always thought we needed a race for the King George. He’s come out of it and looks completely different, he’s tightened up and schooled well, so he’ll do plenty of work next week.”

Tizzard was speaking after the success of Sizing Tennessee in the card’s three-mile novice chase, the nine-year-old’s first win over fences at this third attempt. It was far from a flawless round of jumps from the 2-1 favourite, who had failed to complete in two races this season, but he stayed on strongly up the hill to beat Duel At Dawn by six lengths.

“We never thought he had an issue with his jumping until this year, when he fell at the first meeting here,” Tizzard said. “He just galloped into the second at Ascot [last time] and he was definitely unnerved after that. When we were schooling him, he was guessy, even on a good stride.

“We’ve done plenty of schooling in the last week, but he was still a bit guessy out there today. But he’s got a big, powerful engine, and he’ll probably run a couple more times and then he’ll be an RSA [Novice Chase] horse, I’d have thought, that and the National Hunt Chase [over four miles] are the two races you’d be looking at.

“He just wants more practice, practice is everything, and then he could be a big player in the spring.”

Tizzard completed a double when Robinsfirth, a 7-4 chance, took the most valuable race on the card, the Unicoin Group Handicap Chase, while later in the afternoon, the veteran course specialist Bless The Wings took the Glenfarclas Cross-Country Handicap Chase with More Of That, a former winner of the Stayers’ Hurdle, well beaten on his first attempt at the cross-country obstacles.

Bless The Wings has finished second in the last two runnings of the equivalent race at the Festival meeting and though he will be 13 in a couple of weeks’ time, Bless The Wings will be aimed at the same race once again on the way to a possible run in the Grand National.

Gordon Elliott, his trainer, used the same route to Aintree to good effect with Silver Birch, the 2007 National winner.

Sam Twiston-Davies, who has not ridden in public since injuring an elbow in a fall at Sandown Park on 12 November, will return to the saddle at Cheltenham on Saturday aboard The New One in the Grade Two International Hurdle. Twiston-Davies, whose fitness was in the balance until Friday morning, will replace Richard Johnson on his father Nigel’s gelding, who is vying for favouritism with Melon, from the Willie Mullins yard.

Chris Cook’s Saturday tips

Cheltenham

12.10 Apple’s Shakira 12.45 Movewiththetimes 1.20 Bentelimar 1.55 Deauville Dancer (nb) 2.30 Count Meribel 3.05 Melon 3.40 Graceful Legend (nap)

Doncaster

12.00 One For Billy 12.30 Countister 1.05 Markov 1.40 Amour De Nuit 2.10 Rocklander 2.45 We Have A Dream 3.20 Killala Quay

Hereford

12.20 Sonoftheking 12.55 Vision Des Flos 1.30 Farm The Rock 2.05 Ozzie The Oscar 2.40 Rayvin Black 3.15 Rock And Roll King 3.45 Topofthecotswolds

Newcastle

12.40 Shan Dun na nGall 1.15 Watersmeet 1.50 Star Story 2.25 Mitcd 3.00 King Kevin 3.35 Trevithick 4.05 Reckless Endeavour 4.35 Fintry Flyer

Wolverhampton

5.45 Los Camachos 6.15 Miss Uppity 6.45 Pulsating 7.15 Tropics 7.45 Daily Trader 8.15 Espresso Freddo 8.45 Sword Exceed 9.15 Beyond Recall