ELDORADO ALLEN spoiled the Paul Nicholls party in the Betway Haldon Gold Cup.
The gutsy grey needed every yard of the trip at Exeter as he ground down hot favourite Hitman in the dying strides.
And it was a second big win in a matter of days for a resurgent Tizzard yard and jockey Brendan Powell after Fiddlerontheroof’s Colin Parker victory on Sunday.
Nicholls fired two big guns at the Grade 2 he’s won seven times and it was Hitman not Greaneteen the punters wanted to be with as he went off the 11-10 favourite.
Entering the long straight the race looked Hitmans to lose but the famous Haldon Hill has caught out bigger names in the past.
Powell and Eldorado Allen, sent off at 9-2, found one last surge after the last fence and edged clear by a length when it mattered.
Joe Tizzard, soon to take over the training licence from dad Colin, smiled: “What a race hey, a proper ding-dong battle up the straight.
“I thought we were beat coming to the last but he stuck it out so well. It was good to watch, you don’t mind it when you come out on the right side of it!”
After a quiet campaign last year with winners well down by their high standards, Tizzard reckons the yard is ready to burst back into the big time.
He added: “We think the horses are right now and winning races like this cements everything, it gives us confidence.
“The owners are big supporters of ours and we had Fiddlerontheroof on Sunday, too. It’s just nice, we all need it, it’s what it’s all about.
“Eldorado Allen was brilliant early on last season and then just tailed off a bit. He went well at Cheltenham but then flopped at Aintree.
“He needed every part of the trip today and we’re thinking to step him up in trip anyway. We beat the right horse in Hitman, too. I thought it was between the two of them.”
Sponsors Betway cut the winner into 25-1 for the Ryanair Chase and Tizzard indicated he may go to Huntingdon for the Peterborough Chase next time.
He said: “We will probably be looking at going a bit further now. He has won over hurdles and first time out over fences last year so he does go well fresh. We’ve not really got any plans so we will have to plot a path.
“Quite possibly the Peterborough Chase could be a race we look at as he has put himself in that sort of bracket. He could be a Ryanair horse as we get further down the line.”
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