Joe Tizzard is weighing up the options as stable star JPR One looks to build on his Haldon Gold Cup success at either Sandown or Kelso.
The seven-year-old provided an emotional victory for his trainer on his last appearance when landing the feature race at Exeter on November 8, eventually finishing three-quarters of a length clear of Venetia Williams’ Djelo.
A second successive Haldon Gold Cup for Tizzard continued his family’s love affair with the Grade Two contest.
Having won the race as a jockey on Lake Kariba and Flagship Uberalles back-to-back in 1998 and 1999 for Paul Nicholls, Tizzard then teamed up with his father, Colin, in 2012 with the brilliant Cue Card.
Brendan Powell partnered Eldorado Allen to victory in 2021 when Colin still held the licence and when Joe took over at the helm, Freddie Gingell – his nephew – rode Elixir De Nutz to success last year.
Tizzard immediately turned his attention to a potential tilt at the Grade One Betfair Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown on December 7, but he has now eyed up the lucrative Richard Landale Memorial Handicap Chase in Scotland the following day.
Keen to assess all possibilities before nailing his colours to the destination of JPR One’s next start, the Venn Farm handler said: “He’s good, he’s come out of it really well. I was delighted with that race and he’s ready to go again.
“We just prepared the horse and backed ourselves to get him ready first time out in that one, and hopefully he is seriously on the upgrade.
“I’ve got the option. He’s entered in there (Tingle Creek), I’ll confirm him on Monday and I will also enter him in Kelso next Sunday as well and just look at the races and weigh all the options up. I haven’t made a firm decision either way yet.”
On JPR One’s aspirations for the campaign, he added: “It depends on where he ends up.
“On official ratings, he’s still 16lb below Jonbon so it is whether I go and run him in another handicap and creep my way up through or I go and have a crack at it now and see where we are. I’m just going take as long as I need with it.”
A promising hurdler in Tizzard’s ranks is Western Knight, who made it two wins from two with an impressive display at Ascot last time out.
Following a three-quarters of a length triumph at Uttoxeter at the start of the month, the five-year-old stepped up in grade and trip at the Berkshire track, with Powell timing his challenge brilliantly to take the lead after the final fence and hold on for victory, pipping Nicky Henderson’s Excello by a head.
Tizzard has hinted at another run before the end of the year, with the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle lined up for Western Knight on December 14 at Cheltenham.
“He’s come out of Ascot really well, I think he’s a horse that is seriously progressive,” Tizzard said.
“Last season, he was growing and we couldn’t train him and we ran him at the end of the season, which I wish hadn’t now, but he’s starting to develop and it was a big improvement from Uttoxeter to Ascot. I think they’ve given him a mark of 128 or something like that and I think he fully deserves it.
“There’s more to come as he keeps improving and learning how to race and his jumping was much better on Saturday. He’s just a lovely young horse that’s going in the right direction.
“I wasn’t afraid to chuck him into it – a £25,000 race next time out – it just shows how pleased I was with him after Uttoxeter. It would have been easy to go in one with a penalty, but we thought we’d have a crack with him and he’s come out of it with flying colours.
“He’s a young horse who is learning on the track and progressing every time. There’s an option of stepping him up trip at Cheltenham in a couple of weeks’ time in the Albert Bartlett trial. He did two (mile) five and a half (furlongs) the other day and he galloped right through the line, but we are going to let the dust settle for a couple of days then decide.”
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