Gordon Elliott Stable Tour

Form profile

A winning point-to-pointer, he has won both his starts in bumpers in great style this season.

Trainer says

We’ve considered him to be our Champion Bumper horse for quite some time and have sent him down a similar path as we did with Envoi Allen and Sir Gerhard in the past. He has shown us all the signs that those horses and even the likes of Don Cossack did early on in their careers in bumpers. We took him away to Fairyhouse this morning to work. Jamie Codd rode him, and we were all very happy with him. He’ll probably go to Leopardstown for another bit of work on Monday. He’s spot on and we couldn’t be happier with him. Facile Vega obviously sets a very high standard, but Jamie has ridden in most of the bumpers this season and has a fair idea of what’s what. We won’t be lying down, and I wouldn’t swap him.

Form profile

A 166-rated chaser, he produced a much-improved effort to win the Irish Gold Cup at the Dublin Racing Festival last time.

Trainer says

Conflated is in the Gold Cup and the Ryanair Chase. Michael (O’Leary) wants him to go for the Ryanair, I want to go for the Gold Cup, so we’ll probably have an argument for five minutes. He normally gets his way, but I hope I get mine this time. There’s only one Gold Cup. There’s probably been a bit of a kink in him in the past. When he’s good, he’s very good, but when he was bad, he was horrific. I remember one day in a bumper at Thurles he cocked his jaw and ran off the track. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some little niggly issue there that was affecting him, but he seems in a really good place for the last while. He’s a lot more settled on the gallop, and he looks a lot better in physical terms. You can knock his form all you like, and I’ve heard plenty of lads saying this and that about it, but he beat last year’s Gold Cup winner by five-and-a-half lengths going away. Whether they like it or lump it, he was very good the last day and that puts him in the conversation.

Form profile

A 159-rated chaser, he is a five-time Grade 1 winner over fences that missed the Gold Cup at the Cheltenham Festival last season due to a setback and has been acquitting himself well without winning this season.

Trainer says

Delta Work is aiming towards the cross-country race. He got a bit jarred up at Leopardstown last season and hasn’t been quite the same since, so we thought we’d try this with him and see how he gets on. We sent him over to Cheltenham last week to give him a school around the cross-country track and I was delighted with him. Saying that, it’s very hard to win the cross-country race on your first try around that track. Either way, we think it’s a nice way to get him to the Grand National as it might sweeten him up.

Form profile

A 141-rated hurdler, he has won three of his four starts over hurdles including a Grade 2 juvenile contest at Leopardstown’s Christmas meeting.

Trainer says

Fil Dor is entered in both the Boodles and the Triumph Hurdle. We’ll have a look at the weights before we make a final decision, but at this stage I suspect he’ll go for the Triumph. Vauban was good against him the last day, but I think the new course at Cheltenham will suit Fil Dor very well. Vauban looks to have an awful lot of pace, whereas our horse could be more of a three miler in the long term.

Form profile

A 139-rated chaser, he has run well without winning in all three of his starts over fences.

Trainer says

He’ll go for the Kim Muir. I thought he ran very well at Fairyhouse last time and will be one of a bunch that we’ll run in that race.

Form profile

A 154-rated chaser, he made it third-time lucky over fences when winning a Grade 1 novice chase at Leopardstown’s Christmas meeting.

Trainer says

We’ll see what the handicapper does, but he could go for the Ultima Handicap Chase or the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase. I’ll discuss it with Michael closer to the time.

Form profile

A 167-rated chaser, he has won seven of his last eight starts over fences including the National Hunt Chase at the Cheltenham Festival in March and the Savills Chase at Leopardstown’s Christmas meeting.

Trainer says

Galvin hasn’t done a thing wrong all season. At the start of the season, I thought he might be more of a Grand National horse, but he’s improved week in, week out. This year’s Gold Cup is a race with questions next to most of the contenders. I suppose the only question next to Galvin’s name is that he might lack a gear, but since his win at Leopardstown’s Christmas meeting, we’ve been working him with a sharper type of horse and his work has been very good. We know he stays, he loves Cheltenham, he relaxes, he jumps. If he’s within firing distance of them over the second-last fence, you know he’ll come home strong. He wouldn’t be one I’d compare to Don Poli, not in the slightest. Don Poli was as slow as I am!

Form profile

A winning point-to-pointer, he is unbeaten in two starts in bumpers and two starts over hurdles for Elliott.

Trainer says

He won’t be running at Cheltenham. He got a bit of bone pain and had to have two-and-a-half weeks box rest. We’ll try to get him back for the Punchestown Festival and he’ll be one for novice chases next season.

Form profile

A 146-rated hurdler, he is unbeaten in three starts over hurdles including the Lawlor’s Of Naas Novice Hurdle.

Trainer says

He’s in the Ballymore and Albert Bartlett. I’d say we’ll wait on the ground before we make a final decision. I don’t think Ginto is as slow as some people are saying. I’ve heard plenty saying he goes like a three miler. As Naas, he had to make his own running which wasn’t ideal. He was looking all around him and wasn’t doing a stroke, but he was never going to get beat. Slotting in behind a good gallop at Cheltenham will suit him a lot better.

Form profile

A 138-rated hurdler, he has won two of his four starts over hurdles this season, most recently finishing third to Ginto in a Grade 1 novice hurdle at Naas.

Trainer says

I’d say he’ll probably go for the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle. He’s disappointed me in his last couple of runs, though he wasn’t beaten far either day. I just don’t think he’s been finishing out his races as well as I’d like him to. We’ve changed a couple of things with him at home and we might put a tongue strap on him in the Albert Bartlett. He’s going to be a nice chaser either way, but I do think he’s a bit better than he showed in his last two runs.

Form profile

A 138-rated hurdler, he has won two of his four starts over hurdles this season, most recently finishing third to Ginto in a Grade 1 novice hurdle at Naas.

Trainer says

I think he’s a very good horse. As of now, he is more likely to run in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle. He doesn’t have that “wow” style about him, he’s always a bit behind the bridle, but he keeps galloping. If they go a good gallop and he doesn’t get outpaced early, I think he’ll come home very strong.

Form profile

A 139-rated hurdler, he has won one of his three starts over hurdles and finished second in the Nathaniel Lacy & Partners Solicitors Novice Hurdle at the Dublin Racing Festival.

Trainer says

He’s going to go for the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle. He’s an unassuming horse at home, but I love the way he hits the line in his races. I thought he hit the line really well in his last start at Leopardstown after Danny Mullins rode the lads to sleep a bit on the winner. He made a mistake at the second-last that day too and he’ll learn from it. Jack is getting to know him all the time and will benefit from that.

Form profile

A 152-rated chaser, she has won four of her seven starts over fences including the Kim Muir Handicap Chase at the Cheltenham Festival and two Grade 3 contests.

Trainer says

Shes going to run in the Mares' Chase. Her win in the Kim Muir last year was unbelievable. She actually came home from the race a bit sore, and I’d say she might have been feeling some discomfort in the race that led to her jumping right and taking a while to warm into the race. She’s been a different mare this season. We found a few niggly things with her that we needed to look after, and I think she’s really benefited. I think she could be a lot better mare this season and I’m not worried about her going back left-handed. I think we might have sorted the issues that were causing her to jump right.

Form profile

A 135-rated hurdler, she has won three of her four starts over hurdles including the Paddy Mullins Mares’ Handicap Hurdle at the Dublin Racing Festival.

Trainer says

I thought she was good at Leopardstown, and she’ll go for the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle. The better the ground, the better her chance. She’s in great form. She’s never looked as well as she does now.

Form profile

A 144-rated hurdler, he has won both his starts over hurdles including the JCB Triumph Trial Juvenile Hurdle at Cheltenham.

Trainer says

At this stage I’d say he’ll run in the Triumph Hurdle. I’d say he’s a faster horse than Fil Dor and will most likely always be a two miler. He was impressive the last day and looks to go there with a big chance.

Form profile

A 150-rated chaser, she has won three of her five starts over fences including in Grade 2 and Grade 3 company and most recently finished second to Blue Lord in a Grade 1 novice chase at the Dublin Racing Festival.

Trainer says

She’s going to go for the Arkle Challenge Trophy. It looks a competitive race, but she’s in there with the best of them. I feel she would have won the Irish Arkle if she’d jumped the last as well as she’d jumped the rest of them. The one thing I loved about her was the attitude she showed to put her head down and come back at the winner after making that mistake and having her ground taken from her on the run-in. She was entitled to lay down, but she recovered really well. She’s not a mare that I gallop a lot at home as she can be quite highly strung. If you saw her the first day she ran over fences, she looked like a rasher! She looked very, very fit. But she’s the more she races, the more weight she’s putting on. She looks better now than she did at the start of the season, which is the opposite of what you’d see more often.

Form profile

A 158-rated chaser, he won the Troytown Handicap Chase at Navan on his penultimate start.

Trainer says

He goes to the National Hunt Chase. I think the race is made for him. He has a high level of form and I think second-season chasers are really well suited to it. He ticks all the boxes. Fury Road beat him the last day, but I think everything was right for Fury Road and Run Wild Fred made a bad mistake down the back, so I wouldn’t be harsh on him for getting beat. The Grand National will be on his agenda after Cheltenham.

Form profile

A 155-rated hurdler, he has won two renewals of the Pertemps Network Final at the Cheltenham Festival and finished second in the Stayers’ Hurdle back at that meeting last March.

Trainer says

We’ll wait for his handicap mark, but I’d say he could go for the Pertemps Final. We’ll probably claim 7lb off him. It looks an open race to me based on the entries and he could be a class act in it. He always seems to come alive at Cheltenham and has won this race twice.

Form profile

A 160-rated hurdler, he has won six of his seven starts over hurdles including three Grade 3s and a Grade 2.

Trainer says

He was very good in winning the Red Mills Hurdle and he’s going to take his chance in the Champion Hurdle. He’s improving, but it’s hard to know what he is, as he doesn’t show much at home. I suppose Zanahiyr has already had a go at Honeysuckle and come up short, whereas we don’t know how this fella will measure up to her yet. I think he’ll be better on better ground.

Form profile

A 135-rated hurdler, he has won one of his three starts over hurdles.

Trainer says

He’s an interesting horse. He was good at Punchestown and then ran well behind Vauban and Fil Dor at Leopardstown where he got no run. I liked the way he travelled and jumped against much more experienced horses at Gowran Park. I think better ground will suit him too. Sure, we’ll see what mark he gets with a view to the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle.

Form profile

A 143-rated hurdler, he won a maiden hurdle at Fairyhouse and has twice finished second in Grade 1 novice hurdles at Leopardstown since.

Trainer says

The plan is to run him in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle. He’s been second in two Grade 1s and has only had three starts over hurdles. He has a bit to find, but he’s earned his place in the field.

Form profile

A 155-rated chaser, he has won two renewals of the Grand National at Aintree and three of last four renewals of the Cross-Country Chase at the Cheltenham Festival.

Trainer says

He’s been the horse of a lifetime. Anyone that comes into this yard, especially kids, the first horse they want to see is Tiger Roll. We probably don’t realise how lucky we are to have a horse like him. We brought him over to Cheltenham last week to school him around the cross-country course and he was very good. The one thing we always worry about with Tiger Roll is the ground. He isn’t the same horse on soft ground. There’s only one place I care about winning with him and that’s the cross-country race at the Cheltenham Festival. I wouldn’t worry about his form this season, if the ground comes up good at Cheltenham, he’ll come alive. He’s getting older, it would be hard to say that he could have all his ability, but if he can turn up in 80% form compared to his best in previous years, I think he’ll take all the beating.

Form profile

A 135-rated hurdler, he has won three of his four starts over hurdles.

Trainer says

He’s going to go for the County Hurdle. He’s had a lovely preparation for the race, and he seems in great form. He’s won around the track, which is always a positive. He’s a horse that is hard to get a handle on, so we’ll let him take his chance and see how he gets on.

Form profile

A 159-rated hurdler, he has won four of his nine starts over hurdles and most recently finishing second to Honeysuckle in the Irish Champion Hurdle at the Dublin Racing Festival.

Trainer says

He is on track for the Champion Hurdle. Honeysuckle has been awesome for the last couple of years. There’s not a person in racing that wouldn’t love to see her win. It’ll be awesome if she does. My horse is in good form. We have six-and-a-half lengths to find with her, but I think Cheltenham will suit him better than Leopardstown. We are going to put cheekpieces on him too, not because we think he is ungenuine, but just to help sharpen him early in the race.