Colin Tizzard marked his 61st birthday with his fourth Grade One win of the season as Finian’s Oscar ran away with the Tolworth Hurdle, a performance that sent the horse straight to the top of betting lists for the Neptune at the Cheltenham Festival. An overnight success after 20 years in the game, Tizzard knows the importance of treasuring such moments and was flushed with happiness as he reflected on the depth of talent now housed at his Milborne Port yard.
“It’s unreal that I’ve got these beautiful horses,” he said, “and you’ve got to enjoy it and have a laugh about it, as well as making sure you look after them, because they don’t come along all that often.” Success has begot further success, as the big-time owner Alan Potts decided to switch his horses to the stable on the Dorset border last autumn after noting the big races Tizzard was racking up with Cue Card and Thistlecrack. Together, owner and trainer bid £250,000 for Finian’s Oscar at an auction in November and it is already clear that the money was well spent.
Top-class novice hurdles are generally the preserve of Willie Mullins, Nicky Henderson and Paul Nicholls. Tizzard joked here about the somewhat lower quality of animal that has generally been sent his way in seasons past. “Always before, we’ve been buying store horses, waiting two or three years to find out if they’re 0-90 horses. It’s a lovely part of our training lives at the moment.”
The opposition here was led by Capitaine, a bonny Nicholls-trained grey that had bounded clear at Ascot last time. He looked like getting into the argument until the second-last, where Tom O’Brien pushed some sort of button and Finian’s Oscar carried him into an unbridgeable lead in a matter of strides.
The five-year-old muddled the last and seemed to tire or lose concentration on the run-in, so that his winning margin was only five lengths in the end. The time he recorded is, on the face of it, unimpressive. But Finian’s Oscar is far from the finished article and must count as an exciting talent. He is no bigger than 6-1 for the Neptune, while connections will also consider the Supreme as a Festival option.
“I was half worried, coming into this, we hadn’t done enough with him,” Tizzard added. “He had his flu jabs at Christmas and you get negative about things. When I saddled up, he looked fit and well, his skin was beautiful. We’re just in a period now that you’ve got to pinch yourself every day that they’re going so well.”
Tizzard enjoyed teasing racing’s press pack at his stable in December, referring to the then unraced Finian’s Oscar as “the best young horse I’ve got” but declining to name him. There was a similar side-of-the-mouth moment here when he was asked about Alary, a Gold Cup prospect bought from France who has evidently been working well. Tizzard was asked whether Alary would run at Newbury next month. “I don’t know,” he replied, fiddling with his phone. Then a little glance up and a half-suppressed smile: “But he’s bloody good, I’ll tell you that.”
Charlie Longsdon was the trainer in celebratory mood after the Veterans’ Final, in which his two runners belied big odds to finish first and third, Pete The Feat scoring handily at the age of 13. Dynaste, who once won a Ryanair at the Cheltenham Festival, was a disappointing favourite, finishing seventh and promptly being retired by David Pipe.
Josephine Gordon, last year’s champion apprentice, got her reward this week when agreeing a contract with the high-profile Newmarket trainer Hugo Palmer. “Skilled people make good horses,” Palmer said in the Sun. “She will get lots of opportunities and lots of my owners want to use her. She’s not going to be my stable jockey or what I would describe as No1, but she will be a major part of the team.”
