Unbeaten Envoi Allen to make chase debut at Down Royal

Envoi Allen, one of the most exciting horses in training, makes his chasing debut for Gordon Elliott in the Advanced NI Scaffolding Novice Chase at Down Royal on Friday.

Trainers are creatures of habit and one of Elliott’s habits is starting off his better horses at the Northern Irish racecourse which is fair, not that far from his Meath base and usually produces decent ground. It is where Elliott started Envoi Allen over hurdles at this meeting last year and he clearly sees no reason to change something which has worked well before.

The six-year-old, already twice a winner at the Cheltenham Festival having won the Champion Bumper in 2019 and the Ballymore Hurdle last March, is nine wins from nine starts if you include his one point-to-point start too.

With Davy Russell out of action with a couple of broken neck vertebra, Jack Kennedy, who has just returned from breaking his collar bone, gets his first chance to sit on the Cheveley Park Stud-owned gelding.

Elliott’s decision to send him chasing at this stage has been partly influenced by the decision to have a crack at the Champion Hurdle with his previous Ballymore winner Samcro.

“We thought he might be a Champion Hurdle horse but we ended up wasting a season,” he said. “This horse was bought to win a Gold Cup so that’s what we’re going to try and do.

“He’s nothing flashy at home, he’s very laid back, he’s schooled well, he had a lot (of jumping) done as young horse, he knows the job pretty well. There’s a lot of water to go under the bridge and he’s going to get beaten one day but if he’s the horse I think he is, he should be winning at Down Royal.”

Meanwhile, Paul Nicholls has opted to run Cyrname, the first horse to beat Altior over hurdles or fences and the highest rated chaser in the country, in the bet365 Charlie Hall at Wetherby on Saturday instead of going to Ascot with him.

However, the Charlie Hall is no cake-walk. Among the nine rivals lined up to take him on are Jedd O’Keefe’s Sam Spinner, Kim Bailey’s Gold Cup hope Vinndication and the last two winners, Ballyoptic and Definitly Red.