Tizzard plays his International Card Colin Tizzard is feeling the excitement as he prepares his star turn Cue Card for the step out of novice company in Saturday's StanJames.com International Hurdle. Last season's Champion Bumper winner has made a seamless transition to jumping obstacles, winning at Aintree before annihilating a good field at Cheltenham. He returns to Prestbury Park for a clash with another unbeaten horse in Silviniaco Conti, as well as Greatwood Hurdle winner Menorah. "Everything is fine with him and we're excited about taking on the better horses. These are the sort of days we've been aiming for with him. It's only a small field and I think it's a nice race for him to run in," said Dorset-based Tizzard. "There are three very good young horses in there, who all seem to be on the up, so it will be interesting to see which one is the best. There might even be something else in the race for all I know, we'll just have to see. "It's not the old brigade of the champion hurdlers, it's all the young ones and we'll all find out a bit more about our horses this weekend. I only know how good our horse is from what we've seen on the racecourse. There might be a concern about the going and if there's any frost in the ground then he won't run." Cue Card is already the hot favourite for the Supreme Novices' Hurdle at the Festival, while he is a best priced 14-1 for the Champion Hurdle. However, Tizzard insists it is too early to be making any decisions about March. "We probably won't decide what we're going to do for the rest of the season whatever happens on Saturday," the trainer added. "We'll look after the horse like we always have and just see how we get on." All nine of the five-day confirmations have stood their ground at the declaration stage, with Cue Card, the Paul Nicholls-trained Silviniaco Conti and Philip Hobbs' Menorah appearing to have the race between them if the betting is correct. Hobbs also runs likely pacemaker Nicene Creed, while Clerk's Choice needs to bounce back to form after being beaten at odds-on at Haydock last month. Cristal Bonus, Astracad, Der Spieler and Liberty Seeker complete the line-up.
