Chris Wald reflects on December’s challenges and triumphs on the yard, and looks ahead to the Tizzard team’s path to The Festival
The good form of the yard continued into December and two horses at opposite ends of their careers provided early highlights of the month. The 11-year-old Le Ligerien won the veteran’s race at Lingfield, thus gaining the ninth win of his career, while an exciting four-year-old called Alexei ran out an impressive winner of a novice hurdle at Taunton – he is now unbeaten in a charity race and two novice hurdles since joining us in the summer having previously run on the flat in Germany.
Christmas is a busy time for anyone working in the jump racing industry, and it is no different for the staff here. While it is difficult to give much of a break with so much racing on at this time of year, we tried to give people a chance to get home and see their families, with some having Christmas Day off but working New Year’s Day, and vice versa. Due to the generosity of the owners in the yard, the tack room is always well-stocked with mince pies and chocolates at this time of year, which is much appreciated by all the staff! We were less busy than other years on Boxing Day, with just the four runners at Wincanton, and it was great to get a winner with Pedley Wood in front of a huge local crowd.
A new Tizzard
A few days before Christmas, Joe and Rachel welcomed a baby boy, Harry, into the world. Their first child, Tommie, is now two and Joe has already given them the nickname of The Tizzard Boys… Watch out!
It’s a fitting time for a horseracing birth: the New Year starts with every horse’s birthday on 1st January. Not that any of them were actually born on this day! It is the same for all racehorses, all around the world, making it easier to categorise races with them all becoming a year older at the same time (when a horse turns ten it becomes eligible for Veteran’s races, for example).
The main feature of January so far has been the disruption that the weather has caused, with both freezing temperatures and heavy rain causing lots of meetings to be abandoned. Last weekend was particularly frustrating, with Sandown and Wincanton frozen off on Saturday, both meetings where we had strong chances in some valuable races. Then, on Sunday, myself and travelling head lad Richie made the three-hour trip to Plumpton with two horses, only for the meeting to be called off less than an hour after we arrived due to waterlogging. Needless to say, a quick fry up in the stable lad’s canteen was required before loading up and heading home again!
Meanwhile Reggie and Kim had a similar experience at a snow-covered Chepstow which was abandoned after the first two races, only an hour before our horse was due to run. In both cases the owners were also already at the races – they are the ones who lose out the most, having spent a lot of money to get to that point, sometimes with a lack of alternative races for their horses to run in.
Running in a bumper
The newly-turned four-year old’s who were broken in during the summer as three-year-olds continue to build up their work, and some have already been up to Larkhill point to point course for a ‘racecourse gallop’. We will get them all back there over the next few weeks for more serious bits of work, with the aim of running in a bumper (a flat race for future jump horses) in the spring if they are showing us they are ready. It is exciting to see these horses progress through their careers and can be one of the most rewarding parts of the job.
Looking to The Festival
The Cheltenham Festival is the pinnacle of Jump racing, running over four days in March. It is every trainer, owner and jockeys’ ambition to have a winner there. The entries for some of the major races close over the next few weeks, and the further we go through the season the more attention turns to The Festival. For the select group of horses we have who have targets there, it is likely that they will only run once, maybe twice, more between now and then, so the pressure for these horses to perform is increased. Excitingly, there are also some horses, such as some of the novice hurdlers, who could earn their right to go there with just one good performance over the next few weeks.
Happy New Year to all BV readers – hopefully the weather turns in our favour and we’ll see you at a racecourse soon!
