Joe Tizzard confident Cue Card can bounce back at Cheltenham

Jockey Joe Tizzard has lost none of his faith in Cue Card, despite his narrow defeat in the William Hill King George VI Chase.

The seven-year-old, trained by his father Colin, looked like landing Kempton’s St Stepen’s Day showpiece over three miles on heavy ground but he weakened dramatically in the closing stages and was denied victory when passed by Silviniaco Conti.

Despite the agonising defeat, the Tizzard team were still delighted with the run.

“He still ran an absolute blinder. I look forward to taking on the other horse (Silviniaco Conti) on good ground,” the rider told at The Races.

“You can’t say he didn’t get the trip. He jumped super and got into a lovely rhythm. We were chuffed to bits but the best horse on the day won.

"We haven't made a decision which race to go for, but we'll decide on that closer to the time."

Possible targets
Cue Card has a choice of three possible targets at the Cheltenham Festival, being prominent in the ante-post markets for the Queen Mother Champion Chase, the Gold Cup and the Ryanair Chase, which he won last March.

Colin Tizzard confirmed Cue Card will not run again before the Festival. He said: "He ran a cracking race. There's just a little issue why from the second-last to the third-last he stopped.

“We’ve done the tests and they were perfect so I just assume it was the stamina.

“That race is a thorough test and he got outstayed on the day. His best track is Cheltenham. He won’t race again until the Festival.

“We’ll hack him around for a month and bring him back full of beans.”