King George remains on the agenda for Lostintranslation

Ashley Iveson
November 23, 2020 3:38 pm

‘Very soft’ ground at Kempton could force rethink to Denman Chase.

The Ladbrokes King George VI Chase remains the next objective for Lostintranslation following his disappointing defence of his crown in the Betfair Chase.

Colin Tizzard’s stable star got the better of the Nigel Twiston-Davies-trained Bristol De Mai to claim top honours at Haydock last year.

He subsequently failed to fire in the King George, but having bounced back to finish a close-up third in the Cheltenham Gold Cup in March, the eight-year-old was the narrow favourite on his return to Merseyside for his seasonal reappearance.

However, with conditions much more testing than 12 months earlier, Robbie Power was sending out distress signals a long way from home and Lostintranslation ended up being beaten 47 lengths as Bristol De Mai saw off Clan Des Obeaux to seal a third Betfair Chase success.

Speaking on Monday, assistant trainer Joe Tizzard said: “He trotted up fine yesterday morning and has just been on the walker again today – there are no signs of any problems.

“Robbie has maintained for a few years now that he wants good ground. Dad and I thought he’d get away with softer ground a bit because he’s a big, strong horse, but it went completely heavy at Haydock on Saturday and he never travelled like he can.

“We shall make sure there is nothing else, but at the moment we’re just putting it down to the ground.”

Joe Tizzard with Lostintranslation (David Davies/PA)

Tizzard confirmed the King George remains on the agenda, as long as the ground on Boxing Day is in his favour.

He added: “The King George is the plan. If it turned up heavy at Kempton we might have to rethink that a little bit, but that is certainly the plan at the moment.

“If the ground was very soft then we’d wait for better ground and the Denman Chase at Newbury (in February) or something.

“At the moment the King George will be his next race and we’ll work it out between now and then.”