Michael Dickinson cautions Colin Tizzard over exacting Cheltenham expectations

Cue Card, ridden by Paddy Brennan, pulls away from the last fence before going on to win The Betfair Ascot Chase on Saturday (Picture: Julian Herbert/PA Wire).

The Dorset dairy farmer is responsible for the three main protagonists – Thistlecrack, Native River and Cue Card – as well as the outsider Theatre Guide, who is set to defend his Betbright Chase title at Kempton on Saturday.

A nervous Dickinson lost a stone prior to the ‘famous five’ Gold Cup for his Harewood stable when Bregawn led home Captain John, Wayward Lad, Silver Buck and Ashley House.

“Colin Tizzard is an excellent horseman and a successful trainer,” Dickinson told The Yorkshire Post last night from his stables in Maryland, USA, where he has developed the Tapeta all-weather surface.

“It’s difficult for a trainer to enjoy himself coming up to Cheltenham because there is so much pressure on those four days. I go there now and really enjoy myself because I have none of the responsibility.

“I look at the trainers and see the stress they are all under. It is unrealistic to expect them to enjoy themselves until they’ve had a winner.

“Nowadays, if you have a bad season but a winner at Cheltenham, people think you’ve done well.

“If you’ve had a good season and don’t have a winner at Cheltenham, people think you didn’t do well.

“Four days seems to trump the main four months of the National Hunt season.

“There is a lot of pressure and things can go wrong all the time. I lost 14lb. It’s pressure.”

Dickinson declined to name the Tizzard horse that catches his eye, but racing devotees were universal in their praise of the veteran Cue Card’s victory in the Grade One Ascot Chase on Saturday.

Beaten by Thistlecrack in Kempton’s King George Chase on Boxing Day, Cue Card – the most popular horse in training – jumped for fun under Paddy Brennan to record his ninth Grade One win.

Travelling ominously well before crashing out at the third last fence in last year’s Gold Cup, history is against Cue Card who is bidding to becoming the oldest winner of the three-and-a-quarter mile chase since the 12-year-old What A Myth prevailed in 1969.

Thistlecrack’s jockey Tom Scudamore was so taken with the performance that he named Cue Card as the biggest threat to his mount who remains favourite despite a surprising reverse to the ill-fated Many Clouds at Cheltenham last month.

Tizzard says Cue Card has showed no ill-effects from a foot-perfect performance at Ascot.

He added: “I thought his performance on Saturday was as perfect as you can get.”

Looking ahead to the season-defining race on March 17, the trainer added: “We’re in a lovely position and now it’s a case of trying to get them all there in one piece.

“Every day will be a nervous day for the next few weeks, hoping something doesn’t go wrong.”

Meanwhile champion jockey Richard Johnson talked up the prospects of Native River last night.

Second in Wetherby’s West Yorkshire Hurdle, the horse subsequently won the Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury and Chepstow’s Welsh National.

Ill health meant Johnson missed Native River’s win in Newbury’s Denman Chase 10 days ago.

“Thistlecrack looked unbeatable in the King George, but he got beat last month and that gave us all some hope. The step up in trip is also a slight unknown,” Johnson told his Betway blog.

“You need to stay to win a Gold Cup. One Man and Florida Pearl were the best horses of their generation, but they didn’t win Gold Cups. They just couldn’t handle the extra distance.

“I know some have questioned the form of the Denman Chase with Le Mercurey so close, but he was only three and a half lengths behind Many Clouds at Aintree in December.

“I feel that Native River is the horse open to the most improvement in the race.

“He’s a guaranteed stayer and that is a big advantage. All he’s done this season is enhance his credentials. We haven’t got to the bottom of him yet.

“If they all get there, you’d be surprised if they’re not all involved after three out. It will be from three out to the winning post that is the biggest test.”

The Nigel Twiston-Davies-trained Bristol De Mai, a disappointing third in the Denman Chase, was found to be lame afterwards after knocking a joint.

However, connections have said it is their intention to line up in the Gold Cup.