The Changing Man ‘almost certainly’ heading for Ultima challenge

Joe Tizzard expects The Changing Man to line up in the Ultima at the Cheltenham Festival next week, although the Brown Advisory has not been entirely ruled out just yet.

The eight-year-old has barely put a foot wrong all season, putting a fall in the Badger Beer Chase on debut firmly behind him when coming home the runner-up in a string of valuable handicap chases.

He ran a solid race in defeat each time and after those efforts he had the option of returning to novice company, a division he was still eligible to compete in as he did not win a chase last season.

The Reynoldstown Novices’ Chase was therefore his next port of call, where he claimed a Grade Two title by 24 lengths after the early departure of Nicky Henderson’s Jingko Blue.

That success means The Changing Man will lose his novice status at the end of the season and he holds an entry for the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase next week, but the Ultima has been a long-held plan and remains the most likely option.

“We’ve left him in both, but the race we’re leaning towards the most is the Ultima,” said Tizzard.

“We’ve left our options open as the novice race is cutting up, I don’t think there’ll be many runners in the Brown Advisory, but the Ultima has been the plan for a while.

“He’s only going to be a novice for the next six weeks, so we’re giving ourselves the option, but it will almost certainly be the Ultima.”

Tizzard has another Festival hope in JPR One, who holds entries for the Queen Mother Champion Chase, the Grand Annual and the Ryanair.

The trainer considers the Grand Annual his most likely destination, but will monitor how the fields shape up elsewhere and make a final decision at the 11th hour.

“Again, we are keeping our options open,” he said.

“He’s going to have top-weight in the Grand Annual but I haven’t had a chance to really sit down with John (Romans, owner) and see what he wants to do.

“I think it’ll be the handicap, but you never know. In the last few days, horses do unfortunately drop out, so we’ll keep the option open for as long as we can.

“I’m loving the forecast for him, that’s for certain, he’ll get his ground. It’ll be a Sunday morning conversation with his owner and we’ll go from there.”