From an early age, it was obvious that Joe Tizzard’s future was always going to be horse orientated. Born in Dorset, he grew up surrounded by his family’s dairy farming and National Hunt operation racing operation at Venn Farm, Milborne Port which was spearheaded by his father Colin.
As such, Tizzard junior grew up riding Point-to-Point and experienced early success, usually riding horses trained by his father.
His early start and family background paid dividends when at the age of just 17, he rode his first Cheltenham Festival winner in the 1998 Foxhunter Chase, aboard Earthmover, trained by Richard Barber.
During the 1998/1999 season, while under notable trainer Paul Nicholls’ wing, Tizzard won the Champion Conditional Jockey award, really cementing his status as a major talent.
A Jockey With Consistent Wins
With over 700 winners during his career, it is fair to say that Tizzard certainly made a name for himself over jumps. While he never won the highly coveted Cheltenham Gold Cup or Grand National, he did record a number of notable Grade 1 wins.
Indeed, his partnership with Cue Card, who he almost became synonymous with led to a victory in Ryanair Chase at the 2013 Cheltenham Festival, which would be Tizzard’s last major win.
Prior to this, victories came in the Arkle Challenge in 1999 on Flagship Uberalles, with the duo winning again a year later in the Tingle Creek Chase. Meanwhile, in 2010, Tizzard and Cue Card won the Champion Bumper.
Next Hurdle Provides A Challenge To Relish
It’s always a culture shock for any jockey moving into the training scene, though Tizzard had the advantage of growing up around this. Following his retirement as a jockey, he became the trusted assistant at his family home, continuing to learn from his father in addition to being able to contribute the benefit of his own experience as a successful jockey.
An operation that was run very well and included his sister, Kim, the team was tight knit and Tizzard played a major role in the management and preparation of future champions.
These included Native River, who won the 2018 Cheltenham Gold Cup, Thistlecrack who was the dual winner of the King George VI Chase and World Hurdle winner, in addition to Cue Card.
Tizzard officially took over at the end of the 2021/22 National Hunt season, with his father still remaining on board to provide advice. In his first full season, Tizzard broke the £1 million prize money haul with 55 winners, underlining his pedigree and potential for future success.
In the years that have followed, he has achieved a number of Grade 1 victories, most notably, in the Clarence House Chase in January 2024, with Elixir De Nutz.
Venn Farm Stables has continued to go from strength-to-strength with its reputation for developing horses well-revered, while there appears to be considerable hope for the future.
No doubt Tizzard, as lead trainer, will want to repeat the Cheltenham Gold Cup triumph he shared as his father’s assistant, while there is no reason the stable can’t train multiple serial winners for other big events such as the Grand National.