Cue Card’s owner Jean Bishop has paid tribute to the popular steeplechaser after announcing his retirement.

Bishop and trainer Colin Tizzard had planned to give the 12-year-old a final outing in the Oaksey Chase at Sandown on April 28, but after he failed to show his usual exuberance in his work, they decided to retire him.

Cue Card first hit the headlines with his win in the Champion Bumper at the Cheltenham Festival in 2010 and while he counted three Betfair Chases, two Ascot Chases, a Ryanair and a King George on his record, Bishop pinpointed that first Grade One as her happiest memory.

“I think my favourite day was the Cheltenham Bumper because that was so unexpected, he was 40-1 and it was the beginning of everything for him,” she said.

“If it wasn’t for Sprinter Sacre, he might have had another three or four Grade Ones. We never ran away from anything and he took them all on, he was the only one that did.

“He always tried his best and sometimes he wasn’t beaten that far by him.”

Cue Card’s last win came in the Ascot Chase in February 2017 and he bows out having won 16 of his 41 races, nine at Grade One level, with almost APS1.5 million in prize money to his name.

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