Trainer Colin Tizzard has made the decision to move Lostintranslation into his old stable star Cue Card's box in the hope that the seven year old can become his next big Gold Cup hope at the 2020 Cheltenham festival.
The gelding was ran frequently last season and was muddled about with what distance he is best at and it took until the final race of the season for Tizzard to finally see the light.
The seven year old raced six times throughout the season, putting in some stellar performances at 2 mile 3f to 2 mile 6f with a superb second behind Defi Du Seuil at Cheltenham in the JLT Novices Chase and also a good win in the Dipper Novices Chase earlier in the season at the same track.
However, his final contest of the season was at Aintree on his first step up to 3 miles 1 furlong in the Grade One Novices Chase and this was the race that put him in the 2020 Gold Cup frame.
He lead all the way and when normally he was being outpaced he revelled in the extra trip and put the field to shame including RSA Chase winner Topofthegame.
This is what has sparked Tizzard into pushing his horse in the direction of the Gold Cup and it looks very much as if the trainer will be a lot more tactical and cautious with how he prepares his chaser for the big one in March.
Cue Card went on to win numerous Group One races in his career including at the Cheltenham festival but it was Native River who fulfilled his trainer overall dream in landing the feature race at Prestbury Park.
These two horses were at the front of a very special 10 years for the Dorset based trainer but even with Cue Card now retired and Native River coming towards the end of his career he still believes he has his strongest team to date.
During the summer the trainer has seen many new faces at his yard with some expensive buys added to his arsenal along with a brand new gallops has been installed.
(Credit Racing Post) The trainer said: “We have serious depth and now we have horses for every big race and each division. We have never had that before and that is the exciting bit. We are much stronger than we have ever been – we have some serious firepower and we can’t wait.
“When we had Cue Card and Thistlecrack you worry when the next one is coming, but then Native River came and now Lostintranslation. We’ve also got two of last season's best novice hurdlers in Reserve Tank and Elixir De Nutz.”
Lostintranslation is currently a best priced 12/1 for the Cheltenham Gold Cup but may be shorter than that after his first run of the season which is scheduled at Carlisle on November 3rd in the Colin Parker Memorial Intermediate Chase.
"The world is in front of him," Tizzard said. "I have had some great chasers and I hope he can be the next one.
"Everything we do is to try and make him into a Gold Cup horse, but before Christmas we will look at the Betfair Chase after a prep race. We will look at Wetherby or Carlisle, where the Colin Parker is a really nice option for him.
"He has got the pace to go to the King George – he was very competitive at two and a half miles – and he stays well too. He has everything you need to be a Gold Cup contender and he is ready for the big time."
On filling Cue Card's box, Tizzard added: "One of them had to go in there and he was the one that is the most likely to reach that level."