Tizzard’s Copperhead could be Gold Cup contender

Colin Tizzard says Copperhead could challenge for the Cheltenham Gold Cup in the future after Saturday's win at Ascot.

Copperhead secured an impressive victory in the Sodexo Reynoldstown Novices’ Chase in his first run in graded company.

Tizzard says the six-year-old’s Cheltenham target will depend on which jockeys are available but says the National Hunt Chase is the most likely target, with Copperhead also holding an entry in the RSA Chase.

The trainer also feels a shot at the Gold Cup could well be an option for Copperhead at some stage in the future.

‘The jockey as much as anything [will be a factor in which race he goes for at Cheltenham].

The easier race is the four-miler [the National Hunt Chase],’ he said, as reported by Sky Sports.

He added: ‘I never thought for one moment we would go four miles, but it does look like he is a stamina horse.

It is a lovely race to bring Gold Cup horses on.

‘It looked to me over the first four or five fences he was flat out [at Ascot], but when the pace settled he was bang on it.’

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