Former Scarborough FC winger Tony Outhart eyes another Oscar winning display at Cheltenham Festival

Former Scarborough FC winger Tony Outhart is hoping that his horse Lisnagar Oscar can claim a double success in the Stayers Hurdle at Cheltenham Festival.
Adam Wedge celebrates his success at the 2020 Cheltenham Festival with Lisnagar Oscar, which is part-owned by former Scarborough FC winger Tony Outhart.Adam Wedge celebrates his success at the 2020 Cheltenham Festival with Lisnagar Oscar, which is part-owned by former Scarborough FC winger Tony Outhart.
Adam Wedge celebrates his success at the 2020 Cheltenham Festival with Lisnagar Oscar, which is part-owned by former Scarborough FC winger Tony Outhart.

Scalby-based Outhart, who played for Boro in the 1980s, and went onto play for Harrogate Town, Whitby Town, Frickley, Harrogate Railway, Bridlington Town, Bridlington Trinity and Guiseley, saw his Racing For Fun Syndicate’s Lisnagar Oscar, trained by Rebecca Curtis, win at 66-1 in the same race in 2020.

Outhart has been involved in racehorse ownership since 2002 and was fortunate to have a winner with his very first runner, while his first runner at the Cheltenham Festival in 2003, Tribal Venture, finished third at 100-1 trained by the late Ferdy Murphy.

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Outhart’s first Festival winner came in 2008, when he and three of his friends owned a Ferdy Murphy-trained horse called Naiad du Misselot that won the ultra competitive Coral Cup.

Then in 2014 the same ownership team snapped up another winner thanks to O’Faolains Boy, this time trained by Curtis, a horse that was highly-rated but was unlucky with injuries.

Outhart said: “Lisnagar Oscar will hopefully be running in the Stayers Hurdle on the Thursday of the festival.

“Hopefully he can defend his crown, but it will be a tough ask against Paisley Park and Thyme Hill amongst others.

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“It has been a frustrating season for him (and his owners) as he has had a couple of injury issues so his preparation has not been ideal.

“It was a similar story last year and we know what happened then!

“His trainer Rebecca Curtis is confident he will be spot on for the race if everything goes okay in the next week or so, and if it does then he is a decent each-way bet.”

Outhart admitted having to sit at home and watch the Festival would feel strange.

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He said: “It will be a strange experience watching him run on TV as no spectators or owners can attend. It will be nice to get back to watching live sport when things open up, but in the meantime it’s great just to be able to watch things on TV.”

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