Stunning seven out of eight for Elliott
There were remarkable scenes at Navan on Saturday as Gordon Elliott - who had his first runners back on the scene in September having served half of a one-year ban (six months suspended) following an IHRB referrals hearing into an image posted on social media of the Grand National-winning trainer sitting on a dead horse - won the last seven races on the eight-race card.
Ireland's champion trainer Willie Mullins landed the opening contest courtesy of Whatdeawant (5/4 favourite), but the entire rest of the meeting was bossed by Elliott, culminating in a win for odds-on favourite Itswhatunitesus (10/11) in the concluding Racing Again At Navan On December 18th Flat Race.
Jamie Codd guided the four-year-old to a six-length success, while earlier Conflated (9/4 favourite) had struck under Shane Fitzgerald in the Foxrock Handicap Chase, Farouk D'Alene (7/2) won the Navan Beginners Chase for rider Kevin Sexton and there were also victories for Riviere D'Etel (1/4 favourite, Denis O'Regan), Ginto (11/8 favourite, Codd), The Goffer (10/1, Jody McGarvey) and a 40/1 shocker for Commander Of Fleet in the hands of 5lb claimer Fitzgerald in the competitive Bective Stud Handicap Hurdle.
The seven-fold accumulator on all of Elliott's winners would have paid a whopping 37,204/1 to their Starting Prices.
“It’s been an unbelievable day – to get seven winners at one track and at Navan as well, my local track,” Elliott said.
“I don’t know if it’s been done before in Ireland, but to train seven winners is unbelievable and we’ll never forget it.
“This is special after the year we’ve had, it just shows what it means to the staff and all my owners and friends. You see the likes of Noel Meade clapping you in, they are your proper friends, I can’t believe it.
“We’re back doing what we love doing.”
How it all unfolded...
Ginto took his record to two from two over hurdles after a runaway success in the Grade Two Navan Novice Hurdle.
Starting as the 11/8 favourite from a field of five runners, the five-year-old ran prominently through the two-and-a-half-mile contest and took up the lead over the third hurdle from home.
From there the gelding was comfortably able to pull away, striding clear of the Joseph O’Brien-trained Eric Bloodaxe to register an impressive 11-length victory.
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“That was great, he’s the horse we thought he was,” Elliott said. “He’s a big galloper. From the second-last to the line is what I loved today, he just galloped. He’s a good horse.”
Ginto could now head for the Lawlor’s of Naas Novice Hurdle, a Grade One event run over the same trip in January.
“He’ll get an entry for the race at Naas and we’ll see,” said Elliott. “We’ll have a chat with (owners) Noel and Valerie (Moran) and see what they want to do. He’s a chaser in the making.”
Betfair and Paddy Power slashed the winner in price to 12/1 from 25/1 for the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham in March.
Codd, meanwhile, was replacing Davy Russell, with Elliott adding: “He just sprained his wrist and he’ll be all right."
Elliott team in fantastic form
Elliott and owners the Morans made it a big-race double when the equally-promising Riviere D’etel recorded a straightforward victory in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Klairon Davis Novice Chase, this time with Denis O’Regan doing the steering.
Winner of her first two chasing assignments and sent off the 1/4 favourite, the four-year-old filly had little trouble making the transition to Grade Three company, bowling along in front from the off and coming home 12 lengths clear of Take All.
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Discover Sporting Life Plus BenefitsElliott said: “She’s a good mare. Whether we go for something at Christmas or not, I don’t know. She’s had two runs now and Noel and Valerie are away on holidays for Christmas, we came here for that reason. We’ll see how she is and how she comes out of the race.
“Denis said she’s actually become really relaxed when she gets to the front. They didn’t let her away and she jumped very professionally. I’m very happy with her.”
Commander springs 40/1 surprise
Commander Of Fleet was a 40/1 winner in the valuable Bective Stud Handicap Hurdle.
In a large field of 28 runners, the seven-year-old put two unsuccessful runs this term behind him when prevailing by two and a half lengths from Denis Cullen’s A Great View.
Carrying a sizeable burden of 11st 5lb, Elliott’s gelding, who was a Grade One-winning novice, could now target the Pertemps Final at Cheltenham.
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Discover Sporting Life Plus Benefits“It was a good performance. He was a good horse back in the day,” the trainer said. "To be honest I was worried he had a lot of weight, but it was a good performance and he did it well. I was very happy with him.
“He was running well the last day before he fell, so that’s great. We might try to qualify him for the Pertemps now.”
Four more for red-hot handler
Farouk D'Alene landed the Navan Racecourse Beginners Chase from the Mullins-trained Blue Sari.
The 7/2 winner was to the fore from the off and after regaining the lead heading to the final fence, battled on tenaciously to deny the runner-up by three-quarters of a length.
The Goffer kicked off the seven-fold by winning division two of the Kilbery Pub & Kitchen Maiden Hurdle (free replay in full below).
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Discover Sporting Life Plus BenefitsHe was easy enough to back pre-race and went off at 10/1 under Jody McGarvey but ended up winning in good style, by eight lengths from Noel Meade's 7/2 chance Highland Charge.
Conflated easily won the Foxrock Handicap Chase as the 9/4 favourite, while there was a certain air of inevitability about Itswhatunitesus' six-length success in the concluding Racing Again At Navan On December 18th Flat Race.
Sky Bet reacted by cutting Itswhatunitesus to 16/1 from 33/1 for the Weatherbys Champion Bumper at the Cheltenham Festival in March, but the trainer said: "He’s a lovely horse and we won’t do much more with him this year. We’ll give him a break and we’ll probably bring him back for Fairyhouse and leave it there. He’s one for the future.”
Elliott added of Conflated: “He’s a good horse and was a graded horse over hurdles, but he lost his way a bit. I fancied him in the Kerry National, but he unseated at the third fence. It’s great to win a nice pot with him.
"It’s been an unbelievable day. We have a lot of young horses and as I’ve said before it’s about rebuilding.
“I love this place, it’s probably the best racecourse in the world, never mind in Ireland. The best horses normally win here and there are no excuses. I don’t know what it is, but our horses seem to like it here, we won’t complain!”
