Joe Tizzard: “We are massively excited about Lostintranslation”

14:30 Kempton – Elixir De Nutz

We are running him back plenty quick enough to be honest but there aren’t many options for him over two miles. I don’t think he had too hard a race at Cheltenham.

He came out of it really well and has been working well at home. He pulled hard off a slow pace and then got tired going to the last and Harry wasn’t hard on him.

I am excited about running him. We couldn’t really resist the temptation. We’ll probably ride him a bit differently and try and teach him to relax by dropping him in a fraction. I think it’s a competitive race without there being a hotshot in the race. He deserves to take his chance.

15:05 Kempton – Lostintranslation and Thistlecrack

It looks a brilliant Ladbrokes King George VI Chase. You’ve got last year’s first and second, and then Lostintranslation and Cyrname who are the two big up and comers this season.
We’ve had a very clean preparation with Lostintranslation since he won the Betfair Chase, and we couldn’t be happier with him. We are massively excited about the horse, we hold him in such high regard. We are just looking forward to the challenge of the next step in his career.

I rode in the race half a dozen times and came second in it on Cue Card and fourth on another occasion. People keep talking about it being a speed track, and you have to have a very high cruising speed but they go so fast that you do have to stay.

That’s why Thistlecrack runs so well in the race as he has such a high cruising speed, and it’s also why Cue Card ran so well in the race. I know some people have been questioning that about Lostintranslation, but he was hard on the bridle running over two and a half miles against Defi Du Seuil last season, so speed isn’t something we are at all concerned about with him.

Cyrname will set the race up and we will leave it up to Robbie how he rides Lostintranslation but I expect he’ll sit in third or fourth. Robbie knows the horse so well, and we’ll leave it up to him to decide when to mount his challenge.

With hindsight, the Marsh Hurdle may have been a Grade 1 that got away, once Paisley Park dropped out, but it was a big decision for the owners, and it had always been the plan for Thistlecrack to run in the King George.

He ran a beautiful prep race at Newbury. We were chuffed to bits with that run. He’s won a King George, he’s been second in a King George, and the owners want him to have another crack and so he should. His second in last year’s race was the best performance of any of our horses last season.

He’s in really good nick. Whether he’s capable of challenging Cyrname and Lostintranslation, I’m not really sure? But he deserves to take his chance, and given the form he is in, and the way he schooled with Tom Scudamore on Wednesday, there is nothing to say he won’t turn that bend into the home straight still on the bridle.

I wasn’t surprised that Harry Cobden elected to ride Cyrname over Clan Des Obeaux. It was a no brainer in my opinion. It’s always a difficult decision for a young jockey and it’s never easy in any race let alone the King George.

And of course, Clan Des Obeaux gave him his first Grade 1 win and he will have known Paul Barber a long time and Ged Mason is a big supporter of his. But that’s being a jockey. You have to take the emotion out of it and you have to think of it as a business and ride the horse you think has the best chance of winning the race.

I think this is as competitive a King George as we’ve seen in recent years and I’m looking forward to it as a racing fan. People are trying to put words in my mouth about me being bullish that Lostintranslation will beat Cyrname, but I’m not at all. I’m excited about the challenge and the best horse on the day will win it, and whichever horse does will be held in seriously high regard.

Other runners

12:15 Fontwell – Early Days

She has had a few runs and has learned to settle better and better with each start. She seems to have a fair mark and I think she’ll take a lot of beating down there.

12:20 Wincanton – Never Learn

He’s been off for fifteen months with a slight leg injury. We’ve stuck him in a novice just to give him a little spin. He’ll be back over fences in a couple of weeks.

15:35 Fontwell – Kalarika

She’s been off for a while. She had a slight tendon injury last season. She will probably need a couple of runs to get her cherry ripe. We’ve done plenty with her but she carries plenty of condition so I wouldn’t be surprised if she needs it a bit.

Joe