Tom Scudamore on Thistlecrack, Many Clouds and his weekend rides

Top jockey Tom Scudamore previews his weekend rides at Sandown and Taunton and has his say on Thistlecrack and Many Clouds…

We were obviously very disappointed to get beat with Thistlecrack last weekend in the Cotswold Chase. The better horse beat us on the day. It was obviously very sad what happened to Many Clouds afterwards. We will take plenty of positives from the defeat. As far as I am concerned my horse is still the one they all have to beat in March for the Gold Cup at the Festival.

It’s going to be a different day and better ground next month so we remain very confident with our horse. The experience will stand him in good stead and I have come out of the race at least equally as excited about his Gold Cup chances as before his Cheltenham run.

Obviously the atmosphere became very flat once the news broke about Many Clouds’ passing. He was a very popular horse and it was a terrible ending to what was a fantastic race. There was a sombre atmosphere in the jockeys’ room and around the track. The spectators were still respectful to the winners but the atmosphere really did change as we all felt for the connections.

My opening ride at Sandown is on board Accord in the 12.40pm. The ground is expected to be Heavy tomorrow and this horse will have no problem handling the conditions. He slightly disappointed last time out at Market Rasen, having said that, looking back now it probably wasn’t that bad a run. He ran very well at Cheltenham the time before that. David Bridgewater’s horses seem to have returned to form recently. Accord is a horse he has always thought a lot of so don’t be surprised if he was to go in here.

I am on board Ultragold at 1.15pm for Colin Tizzard. The testing ground should be fine for him. He has had some good form in bits and pieces so far this season. It is a trappy little contest and looks very competitive but hopefully we have a strong chance.