Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
A ROYAL OCCASION FOR GOLDEN INDO
GOLD CUP victor Minella Indo will be expected to make a successful return to action in the €125,000 Ladbrokes Champion Chase, the first Grade 1 contest of the season, at Down Royal.
Five horses, all of them Cheltenham Festival winners, will compete for a winner’s prize of €73,750, the field including British raider Frodon, bidding to give his trainer, Paul Nicholls, a fifth win in the race, the same aim as Gordon Elliott, who will saddle three, five-time Grade 1 winner Delta Work, Galvin and Ravenhill.
But the focus will be on the Rachael Blackmoreridden, 175-rated Minella Indo, who proved too strong for stablmate A Plus Tard in the blue riband of steeplechasing at Cheltenham last March, when Frodon, having made the running, faded to finish a distant fifth.
That was Minella Indo’s fourth win over fences and his first at the top level, having fallen in the Savills over Christmas and filled fourth spot behind Kemboy in the Irish Gold Cup last February.
Delta Work finished just ahead of Indo on the latter occasion before being forced to miss Cheltenham.
Gordon Elliott’s charge had won the Savills and Irish Gold Cup in the 20192020 campaign. But he failed to triumph last season, when finishing only fifth in today’s race, behind stable-companion The Storyteller. And Jack Kennedy’s mount normally improves significantly from his seasonal bow.
The Elliott-trained Galvin comes into the race chasing a seven-timer and has the benefit of a recent run and win in a Grade 3 at Punchestown.
Rated 159, 10lb. above stablemate and fellow National Hunt Chase winner Ravenhill, Galvin needs to improve to trouble the big-guns today. But he’s progressive and shouldn’t be underestimated.
Nicholls relies on last season’s King George winner Frodon, the mount of Bryony Frost, well beaten in the Gold Cup before landing a Grade 2 at Sandown on his final start of the season.
Rated 8lb. below Minella Indo, he’s being prepared for another crack at the King George and will guarantee an honest pace. But Minella Indo should have his measure.
All eye swill be on Envoi Allen on his return in the Grade 2 Join Racing TV Chase, bidding to bounce back from his Cheltenham fall (in the Marsh) and being pulled up at Punchestown.
Unbeaten in a point, four bumpers, four hurdles and three chases (two at Grade 1 level) prior to his Cheltenham blip, he should get his career back on track today.
Gavin Cromwell’s recent flat scorer Yafordadoe should go close in the Dr Emma Clinics Handicap Hurdle.