Joe Tizzard: “Ground permitting, this race is perfect for War Lord”

Coral ambassador and trainer Joe Tizzard spoke to us about Saturday’s four prospects at Cheltenham and Hereford.

Furkash – Hereford 12.12 

We’re all on weather watch at the moment, after the dry autumn has come the frost, but we’re all in the same boat so while it’s never ideal to lose meetings, we’ll work around it. Assuming Saturday’s meetings survive, we’ve got two at Hereford and the same at Cheltenham.

Our conditional jockey Harry Kimber rides our pair at Hereford, he’s been riding really well all season which is great to see. Furkash isn’t the easiest to place as he’s been knocking on the door a few times without getting his nose in front. He’s not the biggest but he’s an honest sort who could be placed again.

Pedley Wood – Hereford 12.47

Pedley Wood is a nice horse who we bought at Cheltenham at the start of the year, having won a point-to-point. In hindsight I didn’t have him as fit as I should have done at Fontwell last time, I thought we done plenty with him at home but it was only when we got him to the racecourse that I could see he was still a little bit on the big side.

All the novice hurdles are competitive at this stage of the season but this fellow will strip a lot fitter having had that first run, and while he will probably need his three runs to get a handicap mark, he is a horse I’m sure will be winning races in the new year.

The Widdow Maker – Cheltenham 1.15

We were delighted with his run at Newbury last time, the winner Paint The Dream was in a different class that day and absolutely bolted up, but this fellow ran a really solid race to finish second, and importantly, improved from his first run of the season, which you always want to see.