MILBORNE Port trainer Colin Tizzard is backing rising star Cue Card to spearhead a magnificent season of jump racing for his stable.

Insiders are talking-up Tiz-zard’s yard as one to watch and predicting 2011 could be his most successful year yet, with a number of his charges expected to make waves in the sport.

And the ace in the pack appears to be Cue Card, who came to prominence by capturing the Champion Bumper at the Cheltenham Festival earlier this year.

Such has been his dominance that since making his debut at Fontwell back in January, the four-year-old has been invincible – and is already favourite for both the two-mile and the two-mile-five-furlong novice hurdles at next year’s Festival.

Cue Card is even priced at 33-1 to win the Champion Hurdle, and Tizzard revealed that he could yet enter him in that showpiece if his standard-bearer continues to run so majestically.

Speaking to Echosport, Tizzard said: “These are exciting times for us and I would have to say that we have got the best group of horses we have ever had.

“Cue Card is heading the list and has been outstanding so far. He is unbeaten in his four races but it is not just the wins, it is the manner of them. He has been exceptional in each.

“His hurdling at Aintree recently was very impressive and he seems to be improving all the time. But that sort of potential brings a lot of responsibility, because we may never have a horse like him here again.

“We’re not sure at the moment what the plan is for Cheltenham. We’ll see where we can go with him but I’d say there is a chance he could run in the Champion Hurdle.

“The most obvious would be for him to go in the two novices and he would stand a great chance of winning both of those, but things can change.”

Despite Cue Card’s meteoric rise, Tizzard, whose son Joe saddles his prized asset, admits that being able to graduate from the gallops into the world of competition is not an exact science.

He added: “You have an instinct about horses and whether they will make the step up but I’d say that you are only right 25 per cent of the time.

“Cue Card has got everything, but some can look brilliant in the gallops only to freeze in races, or just not make the grade. You never push them too hard at home so some guesswork is involved.”

After training point-to-point winners for his son to ride, dairy farmer Tizzard began with just 10 horses back in 1998, but his stable has since expanded and flourished.

While Cue Card may currently be grabbing the headlines, the likes of Hey Big Spender, who got his season off to the perfect start in the three-mile Graduation Chase at Carlisle, and featured in the Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury last Saturday, continue to shine.

Eleven-year-old Joe Lively is being primed for another Grand National after finishing a commendable 10th in the world-famous steeplechase last April, while Kala Patthar and Kilmurry are both rated highly.

And Tizzard said: “Hey Big Spender is getting better and better all the time and we are hoping to enter Joe Lively at Aintree, although he will be 12 by the time that comes around.

“We are looking to make him into a cross-country horse and that’s where his future may lie. If he’s good at that he could do it for a couple more years.”