Tizzard confirms Cue Card retirement

Colin Tizzard’s son and assistant, Joe, has confirmed that the legendary Cue Card has been retired a race early.

One of the biggest and most popular names in the sport, Cue Card landed a massive win when triumphing in the 2010 Champion Bumper at the Cheltenham Festival, the start of numerous successes.

The 12-year-old, owned by Mrs Jean R Bishop, won the Ascot Chase twice – in 2013 and 2017 – whilst also landing the Betfair Chase on three occasions, in 2013, 2015 and 2016.

It had been the plan for the bay gelding to have one last run at Sandown next week but, after being unhappy with his shape ahead of the meeting, Joe has confirmed Cue Card’s racing career is now over.

“We’ve taken the decision this morning to retire Cue Card. He wasn’t working quite as well as he can and we didn’t want to take him to Sandown if we weren’t 100 per cent happy with him,” he was quoted as saying by the Racing Post.

“We will still take him to Sandown to parade him and to celebrate a great career. He has been an incredible horse for us and now he can look forward to a new chapter in his life.”