Gordon Elliott talks us through his incredible team for the 2020-21 National Hunt season including recent winners Envoi Allen and The Storyteller.
ABACADABRAS
I was a bit disappointed with him at Down Royal. He was beaten by a good horse in Aspire Tower and Jack said he had a bit of a blow at the back of the second last. Hopefully he’ll come forward as he was one I hoping might make up into a Champion Hurdle horse.
He got there too soon in front in the Sky Bet Supreme last year. The plan was to get there after the last but it wasn’t Davy Russell’s fault, something fell two out and we found ourselves in front. What I liked is when Siskin went past him he battled back that day. He’s still a weak horse and there’s more to come. He’ll come on for that first run and he likes a truly-run race. He travels strongly and will be better when there’s a gallop on.
ALPHA DES OBEAUX
He isn't getting any younger and finished last in the Champion Chase at Down Royal. We're going to train him for the Grand National. He needs to get a bit of experience going a bit quickly over the first mile of a race which is why he's running in these graded races. It's just getting match practice for the first mile of the race, that's all I want.
ANDY DUFRESNE
I was delighted with him at Wexford. He was born to be a chaser and I thought he was very good. He got in close to the fourth last but that apart didn’t do anything wrong. He’s been Around here since he was a three-year-old and I think he’ll be a graded horse over fences.
He was weak last year and still isn’t the finished article and could be better again next year. I’ll have to talk to the owners but he could be anything from two to two-and-a-half miles. I think he could go up in trip. He has a great cruising speed and two and a half might suit him.
BALLYADAM
I think he’s a nice horse, he stays and has speed, everything you want. He’s not the biggest in the world and hurdling could be his game with the Royal Bond likely to be next. I think two miles will be his trip for now.
BATTLEOVERDOYEN
I was very, very happy with him at Down Royal at the weekend. I’d say we went too far with him last year. I’ll talk to the owners but the way he jumps and bowls I wouldn’t be against dropping him back to two miles at some stage. Clearly two miles three is fine too.
BIGBADANDBEAUTIFUL
Another who shows nothing at home but she’s a star when she runs. I probably overfaced her when I ran her at Galway on the Flat but she’s back in training now and will be out over hurdles in the next three or four weeks.
DARLING DAUGHTER
She came home lame after running in the Weatherbys Champion Bumper at Cheltenham and had a little issue with her knees but she’s back in training now. She probably won’t start off for another month of six weeks over hurdles because she was late back in. She shows nothing at home but when she gets to the track wants to win which is what you want. We’ll hunt Black Type with her all season. She’s a grand mare.
DEFI BLEU
He and Commander In Fleet injured themselves the same day in a novice hurdle at Punchestown. He’s back now and will run in a beginners chase in the next few weeks. He’s a classy horse but it was a serious injury and could have been career threatening. Gigginstown gave him time and threw him out in a field and he’s back, cantering away and in good form again now.
DELTA WORK
Jack Kennedy was very happy with him at Down Royal. He’s a horse who always takes his first run and had a blow during the race. He missed a couple of fences at the wrong time but he’ll head to the Grade One over Christmas and I’d expect improvement.
If you go back over the last couple of seasons, he always seems to be better with a run or two, he seems to be a better horse as he goes along but I still think he's a Gold Cup horse. I'd say he's stronger this year and he's a better horse. He's a young horse and there's improvement in him.
ECLAIR DE BEAUFEU
He was second to another one of mine, Chose Mate, in the Grand Annual last season. I had him in at Down Royal but there’s a nice handicap hurdle at Fairyhouse on Drinmore weekend and he’ll have a go at that first. It doesn’t always work out switching back to hurdles from fences but we’ll give it a go and he’s in good form.
ENVOI ALLEN
He’s a very special horse and we’re very lucky to have him. He’s amazing, very intelligent. Everything is very easy to him and he knows how to win. He’s doing his own talking, I don’t need to blow him up and he was born to be a chaser. He had a wind operation over the summer and did it nicely at Down Royal. It was a great start over fences and he's come out of it well. The plan now will be to go to the Drinmore all being well.
ESKYLANE
He’s a good horse who will be more of a chaser down the road. He won at Punchestown and he’ll go back to Navan for a novice hurdle but whatever he does this year, he’ll be an awful lot better over a fence. He’s still a big rakey horse but is classy with a big pedigree. I think he’s nice.
FISTON DES ISSARDS
He’s a gorgeous Buck’s Boum horse and we really like him. He’ll have a run or two this year but is one we like a lot a lot for the future.
FURY ROAD
We’re going to keep him over hurdles. There’s a second season novice race for him at Navan. He was beaten in a three-way photo for the Albert Bartlett at Cheltenham last season and is a good horse. I’m looking forward to getting him going again.
GALVIN
He’s owned by Ronnie Bartlett who is a lovely man and we’ve had two Cheltenham Festival seconds for him and would love to get him a winner there. We trained his horse all last year with March in mind and we bumped into a well handicapped horse of Kim Bailey’s in Imperial Aura who we chased home in the Northern Trust.
I don’t think he’s a winter heavy ground horse so we kept going though summer as he was still a novice and National Hunt Chase is the race we’re training for. We got some experience into him and I didn’t initially plan to take him to Cheltenham for the Showcase Meeting but we went through the programme book in Ireland and there was barely a race before Christmas that would have qualified him for his big target.
He’s gone home for a month's break and I wanted to let him off and get him ready for Cheltenham fresh and that’s why we went there. It was probably a little close between his last race and his previous win at Tipperary. I’d have been happy in the first four but was obviously delighted he won. Robbie Power said if he’d known the horse he’d have been more confident on him but he gave him a beautiful ride.
Second-season chasers have a good record in the National Hunt Chase in recent years, just look at the likes of Ravenhill and Cause Of Causes. Experience is worth a stone around there. Jamie Codd all being well will ride him and the race looks tailor-made for him. He’s rated in the 150s and might scare a few away too.
GARS DE SCEAUX
He won a point-to-point at the same place Andy Dufresne did and he was recommended strongly to Jamie Codd before he ran. He’s another who wants soft ground and he’ll want to jump a fence down the road.
GINTOU
He works well and won a point-to-point recently. He’s nice and another one we like.
GLENGLASS
He won a point-to-point first time out as a four-year-old which would surprise you if you saw him. He’s a huge horse, 17.1 or 17.2 and will be nothing until he jumps a hurdle or fence. Denis O’Regan was very happy with him at work last week on grass and everything we’ve thrown at him he’s thrown back at us. He’s not an obvious one but Is definitely a horse to follow long term – maybe in 12 months’ time.
HOLLOW GAMES
A big horse who just does what he has to do at home. We’ve taken him away to gallop on grass and he galloped well and he’s always behind the bridle and pleasing you. He couldn’t have the ground soft enough and will make up into a nice staying chaser down the line.
PRESENTING PERCY
He was in good for at home prior to Down Royal and will come on the run, it was the start of his season after all. We got sucked into getting racing a little early and he looked like he was going to be bang there going to the last and got tired. I haven't given up on him yet and while he needs to improve on that, I think he will.
I think he has Grand National written all over him. It will be a Grade One for him next again over Christmas though and we’ll see where we are then. We were lucky enough that Philip Reynolds has sent us a few horses Presenting Percy seems to have taken the regime of this yard very well. It’s great to have him.
QUEENS BROOK
She's made a good start over hurdles this season and was only touched off at Down Royal at the weekend. She puts her head down and gallops and is very straightforward. I think she’ll be better when she steps up in trip on softer ground.
QUILIXIOS
He’s three from three over hurdles and only had a hack round to win at Down Royal at the weekend. What I did like is the way he picked up in a few strides off the back of the second last when Jack asked him to.
SAMCRO
We all know when he’s good he’s very good and I was pleased enough with him behind Battleoverdoyen. He made a mistake at the third last and will come on plenty for it. He’ll go to the John Durkan next but you won’t see the best of him until the sun is out.
The Kinloch Brae at Thurles and Ryanair at Cheltenham would be targets for him. It was wonderful to win the Marsh Chase at the Festival last year in one of the races of the season and he’s a wonderful horse.
SIR GERHARD
We like him and he did a few very good pieces of work. He was ready last year before the lockdown so we threw out into the fields. Jamie Codd rode him in work last week and said he could be our Cheltenham bumper horse and he did it very nicely at the weekend. He’ll go to Navan for a graded race in December and we’ll work back from Cheltenham.
SIRE DE BERLAIS
We put headgear on him last term and he was a different horse, winning the Pertemps Final at Cheltenham. He’s lazy at home, doesn’t do anything impressive here as he just eats, drinks and sleeps! He’s a lovely horse to train and with the rating he has is probably going to have to step up into graded company. We’ll see if he’s good enough to compete and chasing might be another option although he’s not the scopiest horse in the world so I’d imagine he’ll stay over hurdles.
The form guys say on his Pertemps run he’d have been bang there in the Stayers’ Hurdle and I’d imagine we’ll start him off in the Boyne and that will tell us where to go.
THE STORYTELLER
He had fitness on his side in the Ladbrokes Champion Chase at Down Royal at the weekend and it was a great result for Pat and Joe Sloan who are huge supporters of our stable and Irish racing in general. I was thrilled for them.
I’m tempted to switch him back to hurdles now for the Grade One three miler over Christmas. We’ll mix and match with him looking to pick up some more good prize money along the way.
TIGER ROLL
He looks great but like all of us as he gets older it’s harder to get the weight off him. He’s been the horse of a lifetime he’s won at four Cheltenham Festivals, two Grand Nationals, he doesn’t owe us a thing.
The ground is key factor with him. He’s not the same horse on soft ground as he is good ground. He’ll go back to Cheltenham in November for a cross-country race then back there in March and the National at Aintree all being well.
He was beaten by a very good horse at Cheltenham last year in Easysland and he’s being trained for the National too so they could clash two or three times this season. One thing about Tiger Roll is he didn’t have a good prep last year and the other horse would beat us ten times out of ten on soft ground. But on a quicker surface we’d definitely have a chance.
ZANAHIYR
I was impressed with him at Ballinrobe. We’ve won a few juvenile races this season and a few have been penalty kicks but he had a race against Willie Mullins’ Dark Voyager and our horse went and did it well. It took him a while to get into top gear but when he did he won nicely. I loved the way he pricked his ears when the job was done and I think he’ll be better on a big, galloping track and we’re looking forward to him moving forwards. He might be one for the nice staying handicaps on the flat too.