Tizzard opts for Jonjo O'Neill jnr to ride Native River in Denman Chase

Jonjo O'Neill jnr is set to ride Native River in the Denman Chase at Newbury on February 8 with regular rider Richard Johnson sidelined with a broken arm.

Colin Tizzard, trainer of Native River, also revealed O'Neill jnr will partner the 2018 Gold Cup winner at Cheltenham if Johnson fails to recover in time for the festival.

The last time Johnson missed a ride on Native River was in the 2017 running of the Denman Chase, when Aidan Coleman rode him to the first of his two wins in the Grade 2 event.

The conditional jockey has ridden nine winners from 55 rides for Tizzard and he will be aiming to land his first Graded success aboard the ten-year-old.

Native River: the Gold Cup hero will not be ridden by Richard Johnson for the first time since 2017Credit: Michael Steele (Getty Images)

"Jonjo will ride him, he might be a conditional but he’s not is he, he’s a polished young man," Tizzard told Sky Sports Racing.

"That's what I wanted to do, I think it will suit Native River down to the ground.

"If Richard doesn't come back by Cheltenham we've got a
ready-made jockey that's had a go on him. Everyone else has got commitments and Jonjo rides for us, schools for us and we want him on our side."

Johnson is also hoping to ride Thyme Hill, the current ante-post favourite for the Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle, at Cheltenham, with trainer Philip Hobbs saying this week he is confident the four-time champion jockey will return in time for the festival.

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