ENVOI STARS IN FLAW SHOW
Asterion fall makes it easy for unbeaten 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 superstar was saddled with the task of conceding 11lbs to Willie Mullins’ Asterion Forlonge in the Grade 3 Sky Bet Killiney Novice Chase.
But his main rival 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 like the way he quickened down to the last,” said Elliott (below).
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 on March 18. “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 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,” said the jockey.
“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 sometime when he will get beat, but thankfully it wasn’t today.”
Dreal Deal is 16-1 for Cheltenham’s Supreme Novices’ and Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle after lifting the Sky Bet Moscow Flyer Novice Hurdle.