Colin Tizzard started training at Venn
Farm in Milborne Port, near Sherborne, Dorset in 1995. Initially, he
bought two horses for his 16-year-old son, Joe, to ride in
point-to-point races. Both won four races apiece in that first season
and so began a training career that would, eventually, take Colin
right to the top of the tree in National Hunt racing.
After three years in the point-to-point
field, Joe Tizzard turned professional and, with 10 horses in his
yard, Colin took out a full training licence in 1998, essentially to
provide his son with a few more rides. Indeed, Joe was aboard Cue
Card when, despite starting at odds of 40/1, he romped home by 8
lengths in the Weatherbys Champion Bumper in 2010 to give the yard
its first Cheltenham Festival winner. Joe was aboard again when Cue
Card won the Ryanair Chase in 2014 but, ironically, it wasn’t until
his surprise retirement shortly afterwards that the yard really
started to take off.
In the summer of 2015, Colin Tizzard
made the fateful decision to move his horses to a new purpose built
yard on the top of a hill on the Tizzard farmland. Colin had
previously remarked, “If this hill hadn’t been on the farm, I
would never have trained. It wouldn’t have worked without this.”
Inexplicably, the move had a profound effect on the fortunes of the
stable.
In the 2015/16 season, Colin, with son
Joe now working as his assistant trainer, saddled Cue Card to win the
King George VI Chase at Kempton and the Betfred Bowl Chase at
Aintree, Thistlecrack to win the World Hurdle at Cheltenham and the
Liverpool Stayers’ Hurdle at Aintree and Native River to win the
Betfred Mildmay Novices’ Chase at Aintree. Those successes, plus
others, allowed him to break through the £1 million barrier for the
first time.
Astonishingly, the 2016/17 proved even
better, with 57 winners, nine of which were at the highest level and
a total of just over £2 million prize money. Highlights included
victories for Thistlecrack in the King George VI Chase at Kempton and
for Native River in Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury and the Welsh Grand
National at Chepstow.
Colin Tizzard is at a loss to explain
his recent success, saying simply, “It’s the same food, same
water, same gallops; it’s just a beautiful environment.” Whatever
the reason, he’s certainly set himself an admirable target to aim
for in this and coming seasons.
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