ENVOI GIVES THEM ALL THE SLIP
Asterion’s fall makes it easy for Allen
ENVOI ALLEN emerged from a Punchestown drama with his unbeaten record intact and a third Cheltenham Festival triumph firmly in his sights.
Gordon Elliott’s star was saddled with the task of conceding 11lbs to Willie Mullins’ Asterion Forlonge in the Grade 3 Sky Bet Killiney Novice Chase.
But 15-8 second choice Asterion Forlonge departed the scene at the first fence, leaving Envoi Allen and Jack Kennedy to justify 1-2 favouritism from 25-1 outsider Fils D’Oudairies by three and a half lengths.
“He didn’t have more than a canter round, but I really like the way he quickened down to the last,” said Elliott, right..
The victory gave the seven-year-old his 11th win from 11 attempts under Rules and he remains the 10-11 market leader for the Marsh Novices’ Chase at Cheltenham in March. “Jack actually said today, ‘We’ll have to up his work a bit before Cheltenham.’ “He does everything so easy at home, so there’s got to be plenty of improvement in him.” Kennedy admitted he was concerned that Asterion Forlonge who, with fellow first-fence casualty Sempo, ran loose with the three remaining runners for much of the race, might have had an influence on the outcome.
“I had my heart in my mouth a couple of times. They crossed over me at one of the fences down the back,” he said.
“A lot of horses would have maybe taken their eye off the fence and galloped into it, but he didn’t touch a twig.
“The day is going to come when he will get beat, but thankfully it wasn’t today.”