Joe Tizzard Stable Tour ahead of 2023-24 National Hunt season
Graham Clark paid a visit to Joe Tizzard's yard to get the lowdown on his team of horses for the upcoming winter campaign.
When it comes to laying the foundations down for the future, trainer Joe Tizzard can stand back and be pleased with what he achieved during his first full season as a trainer. With a stronger team at his disposal, the 2023-24 campaign has the makings to be even more successful.
After assisting his dad Colin for a number of years upon retiring from a successful career as a jockey which produced more than 600 winners the father of one officially took over the helm at the family’s Spurles Farm Stables base in Milborne Port at the start of the 2022-23 season.
And while he might not have had a genuine Grade One performer among his ranks it failed to stop him from breaking though the £1 million barrier in prize money along with saddling 55 winners which included Grade Two victories for the late Oscar Elite and Ilovethenightlife.
With his team boasting a blend of familiar faces and promising youngsters it is easy to see why Tizzard is so enthusiastic about the months ahead.
Tizzard said: “Last season was good as we broke reaching a million pounds in prize money which was an aim of ours. I don’t really follow numbers of winners, but that is a lot of prize money without a standout horse necessarily.
“It was a big achievement with the horses that we have got so I was chuffed to bits with that. We had 55 winners as well and I was really pleased with that.
“It was a long old season, but I enjoyed it and we have some good supporters that have stuck with me as they didn’t have to when it changed to my name.
“I think that I’ve got a fantastic bunch of novice hurdlers. I’ve only got a few novice chasers in there, but I’ve many more novice hurdlers.
“We have got these four-year-olds and five-year- olds that are the future. You never know with those young horses who might stick their head up and that is the excitement of it.”
Horse-by-horse guide
“He just jarred himself up in the Clarence House Chase which was re-routed to Cheltenham so we had to stop with him. He will be back for one spin before going to Cheltenham, Aintree or Punchestown, but he could do all three depending on how the timings between the meetings are.
“He went up four pounds for his last run where he was only just over two lengths behind Energumene and he is rated 155, which is a bit in no man’s land, but he is an improving horse.
“We won’t see him until the end of January at the earliest. I think he proved he can take the next step up as he ran well behind the subsequent Champion Chase winner at Cheltenham in January.
“We were a bit disappointed with how he jumped, but he came back with a slight injury that day. He was impressive at Cheltenham and Newbury before the turn of the year.
“Whether he ends up in a handicap at the Cheltenham Festival or the Champion Chase, we will see.”
“He ran well at Fontwell the other day and he will be one for the veterans chases from January onwards. He has been competitive in his last couple of runs which has been lovely.
“He has got his mojo back a bit. He is not going to get to the heights that he got to before, but it is nice to have him competitive again. I’d love to get his head in front again.”
“He has got all the potential in the world. He won a bumper for us by 13 lengths at Warwick in a real good time. He is schooling away, and he looks the business.
“I’m in no rush to run him and I will run him on proper ground in November and let him see where he takes us. He is a gorgeous looking horse that has always worked nicely.
“He is potentially my next graded horse coming up through. He is doing things that a lot of our horses don’t do. He won his bumper, and our horses don’t normally do that. He is really exciting.
“We will start him low and let him work his way up. He could possibly be a Tolworth horse or he could be one for the Challow. If he wins a couple of novice hurdles in early November and December then those sorts of races could be targets.
“I can see him being a two and a half miler. There is a difference between two miles around Aintree, where the Tolworth is now being run and two miles around Sandown, where it used to be run. We like the Tolworth as we have won it with Elixir De Nutz and Fiddlerontheroof.”
“He didn’t win last season, but he ran some good races in defeat. He ran in a handicap at Aintree at the end of the season and he travelled and jumped great.
“This year we will take him up to Wetherby for either the Charlie Hall Chase or the West Yorkshire Hurdle before having a crack at the Coral Gold Cup as he loves it around Newbury.
“He is now off 154 and he is a well-handicapped horse. He was able to be second in a Charlie Hall and a Betfair Chase and fourth in a King George last season.
“At the turn of the year he becomes a 10 year old and that opens up a whole other window.
“He will probably have an entry for the Grand National as well. I’m not sure he is a complete out and out slogger for a Welsh National, but I do think if he ran well in a Coral Gold Cup it would open up something like a Grand National later on.
“He takes you for big days out and he is competitive in them without winning them. John (Romans) and Terry (Warner) love him. He is a classy horse, and the handicapper has now given him a chance.”
“He is a veteran, and he has dropped to a mark where he can be competitive. He is such a nice chap and he has been such a good lad for us.
“He has come to such a nice mark that we think we can get his head in front again. He has got two or three runs before Christmas to show that he has still got enthusiasm to keep him going with otherwise he will be retired.
“He is a bit temperamental and at times you can see that. We will just pick and choose races to try get his head in front, but he is off a winnable mark.”
“He is in good nick, but he always needs his first run so that is why he ran at Chepstow. I want to run him in the Haldon Gold Cup as I think two miles two (furlongs) around there will be ideal.
“He was good as a four-year-old for us, but for a couple of years he wasn’t great. However, he has bounced right back. He won at Wincanton last season and was a brilliant second in the Game Spirit at Newbury and a good second up at Ayr.
“With a run under his belt the Haldon Gold Cup has got to be a lovely first target and he ran well around Exeter as a novice chaser.
“I have to pick small field races for him as every time I go to Cheltenham in those big field races he just doesn’t do it. There are plenty of these races throughout the season to look at with him.”
“She will stay hurdling for the moment. She is a classy mare, and she has grown again. She will probably go to Wincanton on November 11th and run in the Richard Barber memorial race. I think she will possibly get three miles as well.
“We will go chasing with her whenever we get told to, but we will give her a shot at one of those nice Listed mares’ race, however she has already got a bit of black type.
“It was a cracking day when she won the Grade Two at Newbury last season.”
“We were ready to go over fences last season, but he pulled some muscles and we didn’t want to lose his novice tag.
“There is a two-mile novice handicap chase handicap at Newton Abbot later this month and if he pings around there then we might look at stepping him up in trip for the Rising Stars at Wincanton.
“You would think a novice handicap at Newton Abbot would be right up his street. He was lightning over a fence at home last season, and he jumps well. I think chasing will be his game.
“He was a good hurdler, but he should be a better chaser. He has got a bit to find, but he looks fantastic, and he looks athletic. He catches everyone’s eye.”
“He ran a blinder in the Topham over the Grand National fences and the Grand Sefton is the aim. You just never know if they are going to take to those fences, but he loved them.
“He had a hard race in the Topham and he pulled up a few strides after the line. He is a solid 130-135 horse. He likes it around Kempton as well.
“We could possibly in time look at the Grand National with him later on in the season as well.”
“He might go to Cheltenham for a Pertemps Qualifier at the end of the month. I want to go chasing with him though as he jumps really well.
“He got his act together on decent ground over three miles up at Ayr, but he had run well at Exeter behind The Carpenter in February and that was good form.
“If he doesn’t quite go on over fences but he finishes in the first four the Pertemps qualifier then we have the option of doing that at Cheltenham in March. I think he is good enough to run at Cheltenham.”
“This sort of horse doesn’t come on the market very often and he is replacing Oscar Elite, who the owners sadly lost. He is doing everything right and has settled in well. He has schools well and gallops nicely.
“He is only a four-year-old and he has been to both the Cheltenham Festival and Aintree and run competitively at both. He is totally unexposed rated 126.
“Maybe we are getting a bit carried away going straight to Cheltenham for the four-year-old only hurdle at the end of October, but the owners are quite keen to have a go and that will tell us where we are.
“It will give us a guide where we are trip wise. He is an exciting four-year-old.”
“We will probably go chasing with him this season. He had one bad run in the Lanzarote last season but only four of the field finished that race. He jumps well at home.
“He is a two and a half miler and there are plenty of options for him. If all goes well before Cheltenham he could be one for the Plate there come The Festival.”
“I think there is a big race in him, but I don’t think he is very well-handicapped for a horse that has only won one chase. His run at Haydock and his run in the Welsh National were solid efforts off huge weights.
“I’m looking to give him a spin before the Becher Chase and the Badger Beer at Wincanton fits in well, providing it is not too quick. It is a race on a local track which I would quite like to win.
“He can handle carrying those big weights. The Becher is his main before Christmas aim so we can have a spin around the big fences. He might tell us he doesn’t like them, but I would be amazed.
“He got knocked over at the second in the Grand National through no fault of his own. He could just do with getting his head in front. I don’t think he is really a Cheltenham horse. The Becher will decide our plans for the rest of the season.”
“I’ve got him entered at Wetherby on Wednesday in a novice handicap chase and he could start off there. He improved with every run last season, and he is stronger this season.
“He has schooled well. He is improving all the time and he will be a lovely novice chaser. He gets three miles over hurdles and he will get that over fences.
“If he wins a novice handicap then he is near enough stepping into graded company as Oscar Elite won a Reynoldstown off 135.
“We will see what the season will tell us and he is already off a rating that he would probably sneak into an Ultima.
“He is a Cheltenham horse hopefully and he ran well in the Pertemps last season, finishing eighth only beaten a few lengths.”
“He fell first time out at Chepstow last season and he lost his confidence which took a while to get it right. When he did get it back he finished on a real high winning those two races.
“It is a different story now as he is rated 129. He proves he handles soft ground so I won’t be taking any chances with him but he has lots of options coming up.
“I think he is a good two-miler and he could sneak into the bottom of a nice handicap.
“He was a cheap horse and he has given the boys that own him some nice days and he didn’t look like he was finished when he won at Kempton.”
“War Lord was a bit disappointing last term, but we have done his wind at the end of the season and hopefully that will help him.
“It was always going to be a hard last term after his novice season. We thought the Haldon Gold Cup would be ideal for him - he got thrashed by a good horse, but something was stopping him though.
“He has dropped to 140 now so he should be competitive. The plan is to go up to Wetherby on Charlie Hall Chase weekend as there is a 0-145 up there and he has run well there twice.
“I think we will stick to two and a half miles for the time being, but he will get further.
“He could possibly be one for the Paddy Power Gold Cup. It depends on how he runs at Wetherby.
“We have got to get him back on track before we get too excited. He seems in real good nick at home, but he has to do it on the track.”
“He is a well handicapped horse and he won at Newton Abbot on his final start last season. I will probably go chasing with him as he jumps really well. I think off 115 he is well handicapped.
“He has got some good form as he ran over two miles around Taunton and he wants further than that and he finished second to Killaloan, who won a couple afterwards.”
Best of the rest and bumper horses
“Lord Of Thunder was second in his point to point and third in his bumper and he will be a lovely novice hurdler.
“Ambion View will have one run in a bumper then go novice hurdling. He is a beautiful horse.
“Butterflycollector is a lovely mare that is a half-sister to Sizing Tennessee, who won a Ladbrokes Trophy for us. She finished sixth in a bumper at Wincanton and run really well. She will go mares’ novice hurdling.
“Defi Nonantais finished third in an Irish point-to-point and we picked him up privately, while Honey Jack hasn’t run yet, but he is a lovely Jack Hobbs baby that will start off in a bumper.
“Siam Park fell when he looked like he was going to win his Irish point-to-point and he could be useful.
“Western Knight finished third beaten a length and a half at Plumpton and he is a gorgeous horse to go novice hurdling with this season."
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