2015 winner of the Long Walk Hurdle Thistlecrack is set to make his seasonal debut in the same race he won five years ago, with his trainer Colin Tizzard expressing that even at the grand old age of 12, he is still in rude health.
The 2016 King George VI Chase winner is now a veteran in the sport and although having some great days behind him in the sport he will be looking to make new memories this term.
The 12 year old has not been seen for over a year now with his clash at Newbury with Paisley Park in the Grade Two Long Distance Hurdle his last start on a track, when just narrowly being seen off by the star staying hurdler.
Thistlecrack is a Cheltenham festival winner landing the Stayers Hurdle in 2016 and also in the same year went on to land the prestigious Boxing Day King George VI Chase at Kempton as a novice over the bigger obstacles.
On this day, four years ago, we witnessed poetry in motion @CheltenhamRaces 😍#Thistlecrack #RacingTVFlashback #EasyAsYouLike #Machine 🏇💨 pic.twitter.com/snza8xlmMu
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) January 30, 2020
Having also been a winner at the Grand National meeting the gelding has landed some of the best staying prizes possible over timber and Tizzard believes he can go on and land one more black type race before retirement, which could be as early as this term.
(Credit ATR) The handler said: “He had a racecourse gallop last week. He’s in cracking form so, as long as all goes right this week, we’ll have a go.
“He didn’t start racing until he was seven so he’s not an old man in that respect. We’ll give him a run and see where we are.
“He’s had an away day and he’s done a lot of work. Hopefully by the end of the week we’ll get all the green lights and we can go.”
The experienced horse is set to take on a remarkable field on Saturday with 14 runners still in the mix to head to post including Paisley Park, Thyme Hill and Main Fact who is looking for his 10th straight win in a row.