- Tom Reed
- 19 April 2022
Wednesday’s Ludlow racing tips: Chillabella the hot pick for Philip Hobbs
Some Spring jumps action at Ludlow on Wednesday, April 20 and Chillabella can lower the temperature of the bookies.
Colin Tizzard was an overnight success that took more than 40 years in the making. A Somerset farmer by trade, he did not hold a full training licence until 1998, but has since made up for lost time in some style.
The name Tizzard perhaps first came to the racing public's wider attention through son Joe, who was an accomplished jockey and rode not only for his Dad, but also for nearby powerhouse Paul Nicholls.
In interviews on television Nicholls would often advocate Colin Tizzard as a skilled and knowledgeable trainer in his own right. It seems the master of Ditcheat knew his stuff.
Right on Cue
A watershed moment for team Tizzard came when the father and son combination produced 40/1 shot Cue Card to win the 2010 Champion Bumper at the Cheltenham Festival. This appeared to be a shock to all but those close to the horse, who went on to be the stable's standard bearer.
Cue Card went on to win 16 of his 41 starts, adding the 2013 Ryanair Chase to his Festival successes. A versatile performer, he won three Betfair Chases (2013, 2015 and 2016), the 2015 King George VI Chase, an Aintree Bowl and and Ascot Chase to his list of Grade 1s prior to retirement.
"TOO CLOSE TO CALL!"
— HorseRacing.net (@HorseRacing_Net) December 21, 2021
Vautour and Cue Card battle it out in the 2015 King George. To this day I still have no idea how Cue Card got up to win... 🤯
📹 @RacingTV pic.twitter.com/60Kqy3dpEb
Paddy Brennan took the reins for some of those prestigious success. He was on board when Cue Card was still going well but crashed out of the 2016 Cheltenham Gold Cup three out, when in with a chance of landing a £1million bonus for winning the three major British Grade 1 staying chases that season.
Thistle a real cracker
The sour taste left by that spill was somewhat sweetened by the emergence of another stable star that same season.
Thistlecrack emerged as a stellar staying hurdler and won the championship for such horses at the Cheltenham Festival, the then World Hurdle as part of a purple patch of nine successive victories, all under Tom Scudamore.
In and among were other Grade 1 wins in the Long Walk Hurdle and the Liverpool Stayers' Hurdle. The last of those nine wins off the reel coming in the 2016 King George VI Chase, in just his fourth start over fences. It proved to be his last win, as he became more difficult to get to the racecourse.
Native River
Tizzard struck up an association with owner the late Alan Potts, for whom Fox Norton and Finian's Oscar provided more good days and more recently, he saddled second Gold Cup winner in Native River.
Arguably just as popular as any Tizzard has trained, there will have been few tougher National Hunt horses. Tenacious, gutsy, a superb jumper, Native River's association with former champion jockey Richard Johnson is the stuff of legend.
💪 One of the great battles
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) April 3, 2021
🥊 Might Bite vs Native River
🏆 2018 @CheltenhamRaces Gold Cup@dickyjohnson77 had a willing partner in the gallant Native River#HappyRetirementRichardJohnson pic.twitter.com/t4NVzIslmm
The same can be applied to his monumental tussle with Might Bite in the 2018 Gold Cup, in which he was relentless in victory.
A Welsh National winner, he added three Grade 2 Denman Chases at Newbury to his CV, as well as finishing in the first four in three other Gold Cups. Like Tizzard, his deeds will be remembered long into the future.
In recent years Joe Tizzard has become assistant to Colin and there will, at some point, be a natural transition that sees the licence change hands.
Colin Tizzard's best horses
Cue Card (foaled 2006 - retired 2018)
Most famous wins: Champion Bumper (2010), Haldon Gold Cup (2012), Ascot Chase (2013, 2017), Ryanair Chase (2013), Betfair Chase (2013, 2015, 2016), Charlie Hall Chase (2015), King George VI Chase (2015), Betfred Bowl (2016)
Thistlecrack (foaled 2008 - retired 2021)
Most famous wins: Sefton Novices' Hurdle (2015)Long Distance Hurdle (2015)Long Walk Hurdle (2015)Cleeve Hurdle (2016)World Hurdle (2016)Liverpool Hurdle (2016)Worcester Novices' Chase (2016)King George VI Chase (2016)
Native River (foaled 2010)
Most famous wins: Worcester Novices' Chase (2015), Mildmay Novices' Chase (2016), Hennessy Gold Cup (2016), Welsh Grand National (2016), Denman Chase (2017, 2018, 2020), Cheltenham Gold Cup (2018), Many Clouds Chase (2019), Cotswold Chase (2021)
Colin Tizzard personal life
Colin's 43-year-old daughter and "right-hand woman at the training operation, Kim Gingell, died after a short battle with cancer at Salisbury Hospital in 2020.
Colin is married to Pauline, who helps run the training operation alongside her husband and son Joe.
