Thistlecrack skips Punchestown Festival, so is chasing in his future?

Jamie Clark, Sports Editor | April 11, 2016

Thistlecrack’s dominance of the 3m hurdling division this term continued at Aintree when the Colin Tizzard gelding made all to take the Liverpool Stayers’ Hurdle on Grand National day.

Sent off a long odds-on favourite for that contest because of a string of classy displays first at Newbury, then Ascot and twice at Cheltenham, including his World Hurdle romp; Thistlecrack was crowned horse of the National Hunt season, but misses the Punchestown Festival at the end of April.

Trainer Tizzard always intended to double his stable star up at Aintree and then over to Ireland for the World Series Champion Stayers Hurdle, but he will now rest ahead of next term and there are big decisions to make.

Scu says: “As good as anything I have seen”

“I’ve had harder days walking the dogs,” said regular jockey and Coral horse racing ambassador Tom Scudamore after the Stayers’ Hurdle success. “I said to Colin that he’d become so good this season that he was almost at the levels of a Big Buck’s.”

“Before the race I said the only thing they could try and do was to mess the race up. He is the best I have ridden and as good as anything I have seen.”