'He was as good as any of them' - Tizzard salutes Gold Cup hero Native River

Colin Tizzard paid tribute to the "wonderful" Native River following his retirement, explaining how his many successes played a crucial role in the development of his stable and training career.

Native River is the final of Tizzard's three great horses in a golden generation to retire, but unlike Cue Card or Thistlecrack he was the one to deliver a Gold Cup – providing the yard with the holy grail in 2018 with a brave win over Might Bite.

Tizzard will hand over his licence to son Joe at the end of the season, and many of the foundations laid to make the yard among the most powerful in the country are thanks to those three horses.

Native River raced for seven seasons, made 32 starts and won on 14 of them to deliver over £1.1 million in prize-money for owners Garth and Anne Broom, who go under the banner Brocade Racing.

Fans' Favourites on Native River: the big friendly giant with a heart of a lion and an eye for the limelight

Tizzard said on Tuesday: "Every yard would love to have a horse like Native River and we were fortunate to have two others like him. He was fortunate to win the Gold Cup and was as good as any of them.

"He raced in seven seasons and only had a little bit of trouble once. He was a very sound horse and every morning he'd turn up and do his work. He wasn't at all delicate, he was a big strong boy and while he never showed that much at home he produced it on the track.

"I remember him getting lazy at one point [2015-16 season] so we put Richard Johnson on him and he had a few years where they gelled together. Richard would push him on, the more he pushed him the better Native River would respond. He has just been a wonderful horse."

Native River: won 14 races for trainer Colin TizzardCredit: Michael Steele (Getty Images)

He added: "Cue Card was a champion bumper winner as a four-year-old and raced on until he was 11, then Native River won the Gold Cup and kept going to a high level for a long time. Thistlecrack was more of a delicate horse but on his day he was probably better than both of them – it's just been lovely to have them."

Between Cue Card, Thistlecrack and Native River, the Tizzards captured 30 Graded races and have continued to be a force in big races thanks to the likes of Lostintranslation, Fiddlerontheroof and Eldorado Allen.

"They helped us to get noticed and attract those owners with the bigger money, it's obvious which are the good horses when they're young and they cost a lot," the Dorset trainer added.

"But to compete at the top level is what we want to do, those three have kept us up there and now our challenge is to stay where we are."

'Absolute legend' Native River retired after Welsh Grand National no-show

How you reacted to Native River's retirement on social media

Read these next:

'It's very disappointing for us' – Skelton novice My Drogo misses rest of season

New customers can get £50 in free bets. First single & e/w bet only. Odds of 1/1 or greater. 5 x £10 bet token. Free bet stakes not included in returns. Free bets for horseracing only. Free bets are non-withdrawable. No free bet expiry. Eligibility restrictions and further T&Cs apply. 18+. begambleaware.org. Claim the offer here.