Cue Card poised for Charlie Hall Chase defence at Wetherby

THE ever popular Grade One-winning steeplechaser Cue Card is on track to make his seasonal reappearance at Wetherby as connections look to stick to a tried and tested schedule.
Cue Card winning at Aintree in April.Cue Card winning at Aintree in April.
Cue Card winning at Aintree in April.

Victory in the three-mile bet365 Charlie Hall Chase last autumn ignited a tremendous campaign for Colin Tizzard’s stable stalwart, with the 10-year-old going on to land the Betfair Chase at Haydock and the King George VI Chase at Kempton before a costly fall at the third-last fence in the Timico Cheltenham Gold Cup when vying with eventual winner Don Cossack.

He bounced back to win at Aintree before suffering defeat at Punchestown and is reported in rude health following a summer break. “Cue Card is fine and having brought him back in early last year, we thought we’d do the same this year, so he came back on July 1,” said Tizzard.

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“He’s cantering now and will do that for six weeks or so. He’s also getting two or three hours out in the paddock every day.

“He’s a 10-year-old now, so we want to look after him and if we do that hopefully we can have him in the same form as he was last season.

“We’ll be sticking to the same plan, hopefully starting off at Wetherby again.”

The winner of 14 out of 31 races, Cue Card is one of the few NH horses to have amassed more than £1m in prize money.

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However Bob Bishop, the octogenarian who owned the horse with his wife Jean, passed away just four days after the horse’s King George win last December.

Other top-class horses with the Charlie Hall on the radar include 2015 Gold Cup winner Coneygree who has not raced since last November.

As for Don Cossack, trainer Gordon Elliott says the Gold Cup hero will be retired if the gelding does not make a full recovery from a career-threatening tendon injury.

However, if the nine-year-old continues to progress, the plan is for jockey Bryan Cooper’s mount to have one prep race before 
attempting to defend the Gold Cup.

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“He scanned okay a few weeks ago,” said County Meath-based Elliott. “I think he could be back within a month, then he’ll start on roadwork.

“He’ll probably do eight weeks of that, get re-scanned and if everything is okay we’ll start back with him then – but everything will have to be 110 per cent.

“It’ll be day by day. If he stays okay, he’ll be back and if he doesn’t, he’ll have a happy retirement.

“If the horse is 110 per cent the plan would be to have one run – I’m not sure where yet – and then the Gold Cup, but if he’s not 110 per cent he’ll be retired. He doesn’t owe us anything.”

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Clive Cox is readying Royal Ascot winners Profitable and My Dream Boat for possible raids on York’s Welcome to Yorkshire Ebor meeting next week.

King’s Stand winner Profitable will revert to five furlongs for the Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes, having finished fourth in the July Cup.

Meanwhile, Prince of Wales’ Stakes hero My Dream Boat – who carries the blue and yellow colours of leading National Hunt owners Paul and Clare Rooney – is “under consideration” for the Juddmonte International – next Wednesday’s opening day highlight will carry a record prize fund of £900,000.

“Profitable is in excellent form and I have been very pleased with him,” said Cox.

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“The Nunthorpe is looking like a race to savour. We decided after Ascot that we would like to give him a run between then and the Nunthorpe.

“We gave him a break last year and he didn’t thrive on it, so we felt that it was in his best interests to have another run. My Dream Boat is under consideration for the Juddmonte. The main factor will be the ground as he wouldn’t want it too fast.”

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