Tizzard family rocked by death of Cue Card after heart attack

Trained by Colin Tizzard and owned by Jean Bishop, Cue Card was a dual Cheltenham Festival victor in winning the 2010 Champion Bumper and the 2013 Ryanair Chase and retired in 2018 with a career tally of 16 wins in 41 career starts.

Cue Card was due to lead the parade of this year’s King George at Kempton on Monday, but Tizzard’s son Joe, who now holds the training licence, announced the death of the hugely popular 16-year-old.

Speaking on behalf of the Tizzard family, he said: “Sadly Cue Card had a heart attack when out for his regular exercise this morning, and died immediately.

“He was an incredible racehorse for Bob and Jean Bishop, and for us all, and there’s no doubt that without him coming along when he did, things may have panned out very differently here at Venn Farm, as he was the first top-class horse we had, and he showed people that we could handle these Grade One horses, which led to the likes of Thistlecrack and Native River.”

Cue Card made a successful racecourse bow in January 2010 when winning a Fontwell bumper by six lengths before springing a 40/1 surprise at the Festival in March.

That proved the springboard for an exceptional racing career, with Joe Tizzard his regular partner until his retirement from the saddle in 2014, with the pair racking up a string of big-race successes, including the Ryanair and the 2013 Betfair Chase at Haydock.

Paddy Brennan then struck up a great relationship with Cue Card, winning two more Betfair Chases in 2015 and 2016 as well as grabbing a dramatic head success over Vautour in the King George at Kempton.

That victory combined with his Betfair success had Cue Card on course for a £1million jumps Triple Crown bonus in the spring of 2016, but he came unstuck at the third-last fence in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, ending his chance of the mammoth prize.

Tizzard paid tribute to “superstar” Cue Card, who spent his entire career with the team, and nominated the 2013 Betfair Chase success as his own personal highlight.

He continued: “We bought him as a three-year-old store, and we got an early indication of his talent when we worked him alongside some of the summer jumpers just a few months after we had broken him in, and he beat them comfortably!

“His win in the Cheltenham Festival bumper was huge, as it was the first for the yard, and I’d gone 11 years without riding a Festival winner. It was a big ask running him that day, but we knew he had the ability, and he proved it in great style. He just needed time to mature after that, so while he was a very good hurdler, chasing was always going to be his thing.

“He was so sound, his longevity was testament to that, and we only ever had a few tiny setbacks, but nothing ever that serious, and that meant he was running in these big races year after year. I was lucky enough to ride the likes of See More Business and Flagship Uberalles, but Cue Card was the best I ever rode, he was a superstar.

“If I had to pick out one victory of his that really stands out, I’d have to say his first Betfair Chase win in 2013. Bob Bishop called dad (Colin) at 5am that morning, as he was having doubts about running him in such a good race.

“So then dad called me to check that we were doing the right thing, which of course we were, as he beat a really deep field. But there was pressure that day, which is why dad was so emotional after the race.”

Cue Card made an appearance at the Royal Windsor Horse Show in 2019, taking part in RoR (Retraining Of Racehorses) in-hand show classes, but he remained an important part of the Tizzard yard.

Tizzard added: “For the last three years he has been (my wife) Rachel’s hack. This is a sad day for everyone here, he was such a huge part our lives, and he’ll never be forgotten by any of us.”

Notable races won

• 2010 Champion Bumper, Cheltenham
• 2012 Haldon Gold Cup, Exeter
• 2013 Ascot Chase, Ascot
• 2013 Ryanair Chase, Cheltenham
• 2013 Betfair Chase, Haydock
• 2015 Charlie Hall Chase, Wetherby
• 2015 Betfair Chase, Haydock
• 2015 King George VI Chase, Kempton
• 2016 Bowl Chase, Aintree
• 2016 Betfair Chase, Haydock
• 2017 Ascot Chase, Ascot

Cue Card (Peak Timeform rating 181)

Colin Tizzard first tasted Grade One success with Joe Lively in the 2007 Feltham Novices’ Chase at Kempton, but it wasn’t until Cue Card came along at the start of the next decade that things truly went to the next level.

Following an impressive debut victory in a Fontwell bumper in January 2010, Cue Card was then sent off at 40/1 for the Champion Bumper at the Cheltenham Festival, attracting little support in the betting against the battalions trained by Willie Mullins, Paul Nicholls and co. He made a total mockery of his outsider status in the race itself, however, quickening right away in the final furlong to win by eight lengths in the style of a potential top-notcher.

That was Tizzard’s first victory at the Festival – Oiseau de Nuit gave him his second when winning the Grand Annual the following year – but it wasn’t until 2013 that Cue Card doubled his own tally at the meeting in the Ryanair Chase (he had finished fourth in the 2011 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle and was then runner-up to a certain Sprinter Sacre in the 2012 Arkle).

Cue Card reinvented himself as a staying chaser in the years after his Ryanair victory, though injury threatened to derail his career after a brilliant win in the 2013 Betfair Chase at Haydock. He missed the second half of that season after suffering a pelvic fracture and there were definite signs when he returned in 2014/15 that he was no longer the force of old, finishing well held in all five starts.

With all that said, there is perhaps no greater tribute to Tizzard’s skills that Cue Card returned as good a horse as ever in 2015/16, a campaign in which he was beaten just once in five starts. Regrettably for his connections, that one defeat proved to be particularly costly as, after winning the Betfair Chase and King George earlier that season, Cue Card still held every chance of landing a £1-million bonus when falling at the third-last in the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

There were a couple more big days in Cue Card yet as he won his third Betfair Chase and his second Ascot Chase in 2016/17 despite not being at his very best. By the time his retirement was announced at the end of the following campaign, Cue Card’s career earnings stood at £1,447,454 and he bowed out as the winner of 16 of his 41 starts. He won as many Grade One races – nine – as he spent seasons in training, too.

Not only did Cue Card become one of the most popular horses of recent years along the way, but he was also the horse to put the Tizzard stable on the map when it came to the upper echelons of National Hunt racing.