Joe Tizzard: This is a stepping stone to the Haldon Gold Cup

Trainer and Coral ambassador Joe Tizzard discusses the chances of his two runners at Chepstow on Saturday.

Chepstow 3.10 – Bourbali

Bourbali is up against some good horses here, but we’re keen to get him started over fences, and Chepstow is a lovely track for novice chasers. He’s schooled really well at home, and although he didn’t manage to get his head in front over hurdles last season, he was ultra consistent and hardly ran a bad race.

As I say, there are some nice horses here, but he is only taking on four rivals, so we’d look to get a nice clear round for him, and if that happens, he should pick up some decent prize money, and more importantly, hopefully enjoy the experience of the bigger obstacles.

Chepstow 3.40 – Elixir De Nutz

This fellow had a cracking time last season, running some massive races in defeat, as well as winning at Wincanton, but the downside of that was the handicapper probably just got to grips with him, which doesn’t make life easy for him. He’s always been a horse who needs his first run of the season, he’s not the easiest to get fully wound up at home, and the plan is the Haldon Gold Cup at Exeter, hence why we’re getting him started here.

It’s a proper race, as you’d expect for the prize money, and while he’ll do himself justice here, we should stress it’s a stepping stone to Exeter, and he’ll come on plenty for the run.

Joe