Elliott expects to find answer to trip question with Romeo Coolio

Gordon Elliott has traditionally been the go-to man when it comes to Down Royal’s November meeting and backing his horses blind would not have been the worst tactic to employ in recent seasons.

But ahead of this Saturday’s feature race, the BetVictor, Remembering Envoi Allen Champion Chase, the trainer warned he is as much in the dark as anyone when it comes to the big question about Romeo Coolio and three miles.

On form from last year there is no reason why the Grade One contest should not go the way of his star novice chaser and plenty will fancy Elliott’s seven-year-old to oblige from at the top or near the top of the market.

But the Cullentra House handler tugged gently at the handbrake should expectation run away when suggesting this trip may yet prove to be beyond the gelding’s stamina and if it is, it will probably be his last try at three miles this season.

“He is in good form and we are looking forward to starting him off,” said Elliott. “I suppose we are going to learn whether three miles is his trip or not. It is a bit of an unknown, but we will know more on Saturday.”

Elliott usually has his string well-primed for a solid showing at the County Down in Northern Ireland. Last year he saddled no fewer than seven winners over the two days, backing up eight in 2024, six in 2022 (the meeting was abandoned in 2023) and seven again in 2021.

Of all the horses Elliott is running Romeo Coolio is perhaps the most fascinating given he piled up an impressive body of work through his novice season, beating some of the best around at up to two and a half miles, only to be pulled up in the Brown Advisory at Cheltenham.

Elliott refused to speculate on what went wrong at Cheltenham, merely offering: “Cheltenham is the past and it is the future I am looking at.” But his presence in the Champion Chase field makes it clear Elliott believes he will stay.

“Look, he goes well there (at Down Royal) and I suppose we are finding out where we go for the rest of the season,” he said.

There will certainly be no hiding place for Romeo Coolio given the ranks of confirmed stayers ranged up against him in the race which has been renamed to commemorate Envoi Allen, a horse who won two Cheltenham Festival races for Elliott and three renewals of this contest for Henry de Bromhead.

Savills Chase winner Affordale Fury, Ryanair Chase victor Heart Wood for De Bromhead, former King George hero Banbridge and the in-form Fleur In The Park make for an intriguing contest, while former Welsh National hero Haiti Couleurs, for whom Rebecca Curtis has secured Paul Townend in the saddle, adds further spice.

“He runs really well fresh and whether he is up to the grade we’ll see, but it’s hard to know where to place him now with his rating and he’s rated as if he’s a top graded horse so we’ll give it a go,” Curtis said.

“We always thought he was up to this level last season and his last two runs felt like one run too many Sean (Bowen) thought, he just wasn’t himself.”

Elliott has chances on the rest of the card, with Kala Conti looking to regain the winning thread after coming down three out at Aintree in April when looking likely to play a part in the finish of the Maghull Novices’ Chase.

Kala Conti had an alternative engagement at Carlisle on Sunday but Elliott has elected to stay closer to home with the mare, who won a Grade Two chase at Cork last season.

“We have gone for Down Royal because it’s handy and we save on the travel early in the season. We will take our chance and hope she can pick up more black type,” he said.

Jacob’s Ladder looks to be the stable’s first string with Jack Kennedy booked, while De Bromhead’s Koktail Divin, winner of the Manifesto Chase at Aintree, promises stern opposition.

Whatever his fortunes in the features, Elliott could have the last laugh if history is anything to go by, having won the SIS-sponsored bumper a remarkable 10 times in the last 11 years.

Elliott runs winning pointer Uncle Pad in the two-mile event and makes no secret of the regard in which the five-year-old is held.

“We’ve a good record in that bumper and the horse we run in it is a very, very good horse,” said Elliott. “He was a weak horse last year, but he’s filled in himself and is very, very strong (now).

“We know there is going to be improvement, but we think he’s a real horse for the future.”