Tizzard happy to juggle jockeys' pack as cattle return to Venn Farm

Colin Tizzard has all but put the finishing touches to his Cheltenham Festival team, but one important ingredient still needs finalising – jockeys.

Tizzard has mainly used Harry Cobden, Tom Scudamore, Robbie Power and Richard Johnson this season, but they have significant relationships with other trainers, leaving some plans up in the air.

One day Tizzard hopes a stable jockey will be in place, but he is content with how things are for now. "We quite like it as it is," he said.

"Robbie comes over from Ireland and we have Harry [Cobden] when he's available, the same for Tom Scu. We had a chat with Tom at the end of last season and said we might have a job, but he's always been with David Pipe.

"Not having a stable jockey is fine at the moment, no-one else is available to be fair. We offered Harry the job last year but the Paul Nicholls job is bigger and better so that's fine, we can live with it."

He added: "One day we might have a stable jockey, but we don't mind now. We say to them, 'Don't get the hump if we don't put you on next time'."

Tizzard's prowess for training racehorses meant late last year he could stop milking cows, after more than 50 years production at his Venn Farm in Dorset.

In November the Friesians made way for more thoroughbreds, but Tizzard could not keep away for long. "I was a farmer for 25 years, but the cows left and training has taken over full-time," he said on Monday, when there was not a Daisy or Buttercup in sight.

"I don't think it's made it easier, but I don't know how we used to keep up. That said, the busier you are the better.

"I don't miss the dairy cows at all. I went to market last Friday and bought 49 beef cattle, which gave me a lot of pleasure. They look nice and we're going to carry on farming, but we're going to have beef – you haven't got to milk them 120 times a year!"

Tizzard added: "They'll look lovely in the summer, when I can drive round and see them when I've nothing else to do. I used to say the cows were a safety net, but they were like a lead weight holding us back. We'd had enough of the dairy farming, but I wouldn't put anyone off it.

"It's got us to where we are now. I've financed all this through dairy farming, so mustn't knock it, but we don't have to do it now."

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