A good month for the Tizzard team, says Chris Wald, with Cheltenham clean sweeps, Ascot perfection and a yard at full stride ahead of Christmas fixtures
November was the month the Tizzard yard properly hit its stride for the season, says Chris Wald: ‘We had a really good month,’ Chris Wald says. ‘We had three runners at Cheltenham and they all won – and then at Ascot the following weekend we sent four and they all won as well.’
It started closer to home on West Country Weekend – Haldon Gold Cup day at Exeter, followed by Wincanton on the Sunday. Lisbon Park got the ball rolling at Exeter, before Sweet Caryline and No Way Jay both won at Wincanton. ‘That was a good weekend,’ Chris says.
Three days at Cheltenham followed, and the team sent three horses to the meeting, one each day. All three won.
Eldorado Allen took the veterans’ chase, a popular result for a horse who has been a flagbearer for the yard. ‘He’s been a really good horse for us, but hadn’t won a race in a couple of years,’ Chris says. ‘It was nice to see him back in the winner’s enclosure, especially at a track like Cheltenham.’
Triple Trade landed a competitive handicap chase, before Alexei capped the meeting with victory in the Greatwood Hurdle – one of the biggest early-season two-mile handicap hurdles on the calendar.
‘He’s a nice five-year-old who just seems to be progressing all the time,’ Chris says of Alexei. ‘He’s looking like he’ll be at least a top-level handicapper, and he may even end up with a bit of an each-way chance in the Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival if everything goes well between now and then.’
Image: Courtenay Hitchcock
Looking to Aintree
That same Cheltenham weekend brought more success on the road – a win for Blacksamssenorita at Uttoxeter and Mask of Zorro at Fontwell. ‘So from Friday to Sunday we had five runners and they all won,’ Chris says. ‘That was another pretty nice weekend!’
Remarkably, the following weekend produced something similar. ‘There were two days at Ascot, Friday and Saturday,’ he says. ‘We had two runners on Friday and two on Saturday – and they all won as well.’
Kripticjim won a novice hurdle on the Friday, and then The Walk made his debut in a bumper and won quite impressively, Chris says. ‘He’s a nice four year old out of the half-sister to Native River, who won the Gold Cup for us in 2018,’ Chris says. ‘So he’s quite exciting.’
Saturday brought another novice hurdle success with Etna Bianco, and Rock My Way rounded off the meeting by winning the Berkshire National handicap chase. ‘He’s such a good staying chaser,’ Chris says. ‘He’ll go on to the Welsh National at Chepstow on the 27th of December next, and if he keeps going the right way he could end up in the Grand National at Aintree next April.’
© Courtenay Hitchcock
A busy Christmas
By the end of the month Tizzard’s yard had climbed to fifth in the British Jump Trainers’ Championship. ‘It’s been exciting,’ Chris says. ‘It’s kick-started the season – hopefully we can keep it going.’
Attention now turns to a busy December and the season’s key Christmas fixtures. Alexei, the Greatwood winner, is one to watch. ‘He’ll either go for another handicap hurdle at Ascot on the 20th, or he may go for the Christmas Hurdle, a Grade 1 at Kempton on Boxing Day,’ Chris says. Rock My Way’s Welsh National is firmly on the board for 27th December, but the yard will be busy across all the big post-Christmas meetings.
‘It’s always a busy time for us,’ Chris says. ‘Boxing Day, New Year’s Day – they’re big racing days, we’ll have plenty of runners.’
Life at the yard doesn’t stop for the holidays, but the team do try to carve out some breathing space for staff.
‘We probably don’t get as much time off as people working in ‘normal’ jobs,’ Chris says, ‘but we try and balance it so everyone gets a bit. We split the staff between working Christmas and New Year – some people want to spend Christmas with their families, and some of the younger ones would rather go out on New Year’s Eve and have New Year’s Day off. It’s a busy time, so it’s hard to balance, but we try and give everyone a fair amount of time off as well.’
Results like November’s make the long winter mornings feel worthwhile. A perfect five-from-five at Cheltenham and beyond, followed by a four-from-four clean sweep at Ascot, have launched the season in style. Now the challenge is to carry that momentum into the Christmas period – and, if all goes to plan, on towards Chepstow, Kempton and, in time, back to Cheltenham in March … and maybe Aintree for the Grand National.
