Former art critic making a bigger splash at Pond House

Professor Caroline Tisdall has form when it comes to reaching her destination of choice.

Formerly The Guardian’s art critic, she can speak several languages. She has travelled extensively, working in Africa and the Middle East while helping to manage the Highland estate of her late partner, Paul van Vlissingen. And having revived her childhood love of jump racing, she can reflect that a more recent quest has now come to fruition.

Tisdall will descend on the Cheltenham Festival with three runners. Champers On Ice, Moon Racer and Un Temps Pour Tout reflect her ambition to compete at the highest class, while Vieux Lion Rouge vaulted to the head of the Grand National market after his recent victory at Haydock.

Vieux Lion Rouge on the way to a Haydock victory that roared him to the head of the Grand National marketCredit: John Grossick

They are among 16 horses she owns, entirely or in partnership, who are in training with David Pipe. “My philosophy has always been to learn and do it to the best of your best ability at the top level,” she says. “Cheltenham and the Grand National are my thing, but I knew that to do that I would really have to go for it.”