The Long Walk Hurdle here does not usually have a bearing on the King George VI Chase a week later but for Colin Tizzard’s success with Thistlecrack meant he has not lost his form just before running Cue Card in the Kempton race. “We haven’t had a winner for 10 days, I was starting to get a bit nervous,” said the relieved trainer after his horse had come home eight lengths clear.
This was as comfortable a victory as the margin would suggest, Thistlecrack having hacked along with conspicuous ease on the heels of Reve De Sivola, winner of the Long Walk for the past three years. While the other horse stuck on dourly up the straight, there was an ounce of cruelty in the way Thistlecrack glided past him at the second-last.
It is the second time Tizzard has won two Grade One races in the same season, Cue Card having landed last month’s Betfair Chase. The 59-year-old attributes his productive autumn to having a new purpose-built facility for his horses, well away from his long-established dairy farm.
“It’s my dream, I’ve always fancied training racehorses,” he said. “Now I’ve got a racing yard without cows in sight, so it’s lovely, I can go up there in the morning and think about nothing else. One day in the not too distant future, Joe [his son] will take it on. And my daughters are there every morning, so it’s a good family thing.
“I’m so chuffed that we’ve got a Cue Card and a Thistlecrack in our yard. It’s outstanding that two brilliant horses like that end up with me. It’s luck. I’m churning round inside. It’s absolutely unbelievable that we’re doing this, so we must enjoy it.”
Having been the 8-1 favourite for the World Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, Thistlecrack is now no bigger than 7-2 and there is not much of that left in the betting village. Saphir Du Rheu, in contrast, doubled to 20-1 after trailing in fifth here and it is not clear where his immediate future will lie, having been well held in the Hennessy on his previous run.
The Ladbroke, the day’s big betting race, ended in a dead-heat after the tremendously game Sternrubin, having set a strong gallop, rallied to rejoin Jolly’s Cracked It on the line. The judge took an age to call the result, doubtless mindful of the fact that a colleague at Lingfield last Saturday had misread a photo-finish in fading light and the result had to be corrected by the sport’s ruling body on Thursday. No such controversy seemed in prospect here, with both sets of connections apparently happy to share the prize money.
