Colin Tizzard's Grade 1 winner will miss the Festival for the second season running
Plenty of punters up and down the nation spent the backend of 2017 weighing up their ante-post bets for Cheltenham, and unfortunately for a select few these included Thistlecrack. Since the 1st April 2017, and before some selected bookies installed no-runner no bet, Colin Tizzard’s star horse was the 21st most backed Cheltenham horse via Oddschecker.
However, following the news the gelding has suffered 'a small stress fracture', he will now miss the Fesitval in March for a second successive season.
It’s a case of deja vu for Thistlecrack fans, less than 12 months after the Colin Tizzard 10 year-old suffered the same fate last season when he was also ruled out for the season due to injury
"Gutted" - Kim Tizzard can't hide her disappointment as Thistlecrack is ruled out for the season: pic.twitter.com/YsOIWyjJX7
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) January 8, 2018
That season-ending injury meant he started this campaign on a retrieval mission and after two relatively below par performances, he was available at odds as big as 12/1 for the Gold Cup before today’s news broke. His absence has seen some bookies cut King George winner and ante-post favourite Might Bite into as short as 3/1 for the March showpiece.
Oddschecker spokesperson George Elek: “It’s heart breaking news for connections who believed they had the horse back to somewhere approaching his best in what looks an open Gold Cup. Although beaten five lengths in the King George, his trainer seemed happy enough with his stable star and it would have been interesting to see how/if he could have improved for that effort. With doubts surrounding a number of the market principles following lacklustre performances over the festive period, Nicky Henderson’s Might Bite looks a really solid favourite at the odds, whilst the Tizzard yard will have to rely on last year’s Hennessy and Welsh National winner Native River who also finished third in the race last year and has been shortened into just 7/1 with one firm.”
