The Tizzard yard is ticking over through the middle of winter as the quiet spell leaves focus to turn to Winter Millions and young prospects
The gelding, trained by Joe Tizzard and ridden by Brendan Powell, won by a short head, completing a hat-trick of wins from his last three races
The turn of the year has been a quieter month on the racecourse for the Tizzard yard, but Chris Wald is relaxed about the pace as the winter campaign settles into its rhythm.
‘We haven’t had all that many winners in the last month,’ he says. ‘But we’ve had a couple of really nice ones.’
One of those was Mask Of Zorro, who won the BoyleSports Home Of Early Payout Handicap Hurdle race at Taunton Racecourse on December 30th, making it a hat-trick for the five-year-old gelding, following two previous wins at Fontwell. And Triple Trade won the Unibet Middle Distance Veterans’ Handicap Chase at Sandown Park Racecourse on January 3rd.
‘A veterans race is for horses over 10 years old …’ Chris explained. ‘Triple Trade just snuck in, having turned 10 on January 1st!’
Beyond that, results have been thinner on the ground. ‘It’s been a little bit quiet,’ Chris says. ‘The cold snap has meant a number of races were called off. It’s also the time of year that the horses have their winter flu jab, and they do have a bit of a quiet time after that.
‘The start of January has been calmer than normal for us. But a short pause in the middle of the season is actually no bad thing – there’s plenty of races left yet, it’s a long season, going right through to the beginning of May.’
Image: Courtenay Hitchcock
Winter millions
When we spoke, Chris’s attention was turned to the Berkshire Winter Millions Festival: a three-day racing festival every January with £1million worth of prize money on offer across the weekend. ‘We’ve got some nice runners coming up,’ Chris said.
The headline entry was JPR One, set to take his chance in the Grade 1 Clarence House Chase on Saturday. Joe Tizzard recorded his first Grade 1 win with Elixir De Nutz in the Clarence House Chase in January 2024: ‘JPR One is probably one of the outsiders, but so was Elixir De Nutz!’
There is also the valuable Fleur De Lys Chase on Sunday, at Royal Windsor, where the yard will be represented by 12-year-old Eldorado Allen. ‘He’s an older horse, but he’s in as good a form as he’s ever been,’ Chris says. ‘We’ll go there with a really good each-way chance.’
Image: Courtenay Hitchcock
In the end, JPR ONe didn’t run, but Kasino Des Mottes, Sunset Marquesa and Lisbane Park all ran well to be placed. Elsewhere, Rivers Corner produced a great performance to win the Somerset National by 21 lengths – Chris said ‘it’s always good to win a national!’
Beyond the immediate race targets, the emphasis on the yard has shifted slightly. ‘With things being a little bit quieter with the racing, we’ve been anle to concentrate on the youngsters coming through a little bit more,’ Chris says.
The yard currently has ten four-year-olds: some that Joe bought at the sames, and some are homebred by Colin Tizzard. ‘They’re all building up their work,’ he says, ‘working towards running in their bumpers over the next few weeks.’
Bumpers are for horses aged four to six that have not previously run in any race except other bumpers or point-to-points. This stage of the process is one Chris particularly enjoys. ‘They’re broken in during their third summer,’ he explains. ‘Then when they turn four officially on the first of January, we start to do a bit more serious work with them. That’s when you really start to find out what you’ve got – or what you think you might have.
‘It’s such a rewarding part of the job – you create them yourself, they have all their education here, you watch them progress, and hopefully go on to do well on the track.’
Of course, even then, nothing is certain. ‘You don’t fully find out until you get them on the racecourse,’ he says. ‘When you get them in a race, you start to get an idea of the ones who just might go on to be the yard superstars.’
For now, the yard is balancing patience with preparation – letting horses find their form, while laying the foundations for the weeks ahead. With the Winter Millions next on the agenda and a crop of youngsters beginning to show their hand, there is plenty to look forward to as the season moves on.
