Native River delivers for Tizzard team in Denman test

Native River further enhanced his claims for the Timico Cheltenham Gold Cup when making all the running to beat two smart rivals in the Betfair Denman Chase at Newbury.Winner of the Hennessy and Welsh National in his last two starts, Native River showed he was adaptable in such a small field.There was a late change when Aidan Coleman came in for the ride on Native River after Richard Johnson stood himself down as he was feeling unwell.Coleman was riding Native River for the first time, but it made no difference to the result as the Colin Tizzard-trained seven-year-old set a steady pace.The plan was to save some energy for the finish and so it proved as Native River (11-10) galloped away from 14-1 outsider Le Mercurey after the last.Bristol De Mai, sent off the 10-11 favourite, was a slightly disappointing last of the three, having never got in a challenging position.Tizzard told ITV Racing: "I only think he asked him coming down to the second last. He just nursed him along. It showed he was a bit classier."His last two races he went a few lengths clear four out and just held on. We wanted to ride him a little differently and have that finishing spurt at the end and it's worked brilliantly. He's gone away at the line."Aidan's not a bad sub."Of his three Gold Cup contenders - Native River, Thistlecrack and Cue Card - Tizzard said: "They are all lovely horses. I'm just so proud to have them in our yard."A three-horse race today I thought we might get outmanoeuvred, but no, he's got a bit more class and is just a thorough stayer and he's got a bit of pace as well."