IT was a case of déjà vu all over again at the Down Royal Festival of Racing, the same names, equine and human, appearing among the winners, chiefly Envoi Allen in the Champion Chase.

His win, a sixth at the meeting and a 10th at Grade 1 level, was heart-warming, for all this was a weak running of the race, none of the top 10 chasers in Ireland (judged on official ratings) involved and two significant non-runners bringing the field back to just five.

The pace was notably steady, the overall time marginally slower than the handicap chase won by a 108-rated horse in the previous race, but that was a positive for Envoi Allen who has multiple top-level wins at shorter and travelled best, only needing to be pushed on the run to the last and thereafter.

This will likely prove the high point of the winner’s season, though the Ryanair is another race that has brought out the best in him, while the runner-up Affordale Fury appeals as the most likely in the field to make an impact in good staying chases this winter.

On just his fifth chase start, he stepped up on his Gowran return to reverse form with Western Fold and shaped better than the result too. Having initially been held up, Donagh Meyler moved him forward before halfway, presumably unhappy with the steady pace, and again pressed on in the final quarter of the race.

His jumping didn’t help, as there were occasions when Meyler looked to push the pace only for his mount to jump slowly and this was particularly the case four and three out as the race was getting going.

Second best

Though he only finished slightly ahead of the third and fourth, he shaped a clear second best and promises to be better suited by a stiffer test, whether that comes via a stronger pace or slower ground.

Western Fold may have found this one race too many after a busy period, while Found A Fifty was flat out disappointing, having been well-backed. He is a horse that travels strongly and jumps well at shorter trips, so the decision to step up to three miles was surprising for all he has hit a ceiling at shorter, but he struggled to get competitive at any point.

Envoi Allen’s win was the exclamation point on a fine autumn for Henry de Bromhead and, as of last Sunday evening, his record since the start of September over jumps was 28 winners from 95 runners with Darragh O’Keeffe riding 20 of those winners.

The yard also won two other valuable races over the weekend at Down Royal with Full Of Life and Lieber Nicc, both of those looking improved and sharper types under forceful rides from O’Keeffe to take their respective contests.

Gordon Elliott has had a productive summer and autumn, winning three feature races at Galway along with a successful raid on Far Hills, and his Down Royal meeting was in line with expectations.

His seven winners over the two days should have been eight but for the carnage in the opening maiden hurdle, which fits in with his average of 7.8 winners here in the years between 2019 and 2024.

Exciting prospect

Romeo Coolio remains one of his most exciting prospects and had a comfortable success on chase debut, albeit that he faced little jumping as fences were taken out due to a low sun.

He will need to improve for chasing if he is to be top class and with his physique it is possible, and connections will be hoping that he will prove better than Firefox part two.

Firefox won the Grade 2 for second-season chasers on Saturday, another race where fences were bypassed, which was his first graded win on his ninth attempt.

His trainer summed him up accurately afterwards, saying that ‘he’s a good horse, but the problem is you are always taking on those real good horses the whole time’ and he was favoured by the race conditions here.

Elliott has a long history of starting off good horses at this meeting though there was nothing that really blew one away visually. Mange Tout had a big reputation coming into the three-year-old hurdle on Saturday, but got the job done more than anything and was helped by a significant error two out by her main rival.

This was a strange race, however, the pace much stronger than in the three other hurdle races on the card, and runners slowed markedly late.

Elliott has dominated the bumper on Saturday’s card recently, winning it each year but one since 2016 and, while Ballyfad only won by half a length, there were reasons to think him better than the form. A winning pointer, he would hardly have been suited by the steady gallop, but showed a good attitude to come from off the pace and then repel the strong-travelling runner-up.

THE Irish flat turf season wrapped up quietly at the Curragh on Sunday and will go down as a year lacking outstanding performances from individual horses, but Aidan O’Brien continued his sustained brilliance, especially with juveniles, while Dylan Browne McMonagle had a breakthrough success with his first jockeys’ championship.

Further down the table, a couple of trainers had fine campaigns. Johnny Murtagh had 55 winners during the season, 10 more than his previous best last year, and was notably consistent from month to month. Following a blank March, his winner totals by month went: nine, eight, four, 10, eight, 10 and six, his stable never taking a dip.

This was reflected in the performances of two of his most progressive horses, Alakazi and Shaool. Both were running on the turf in April and held their form through the summer, before producing their best performances of the year on their final starts in October despite facing the toughest competition they had met all season.

Excellent ratio

Murtagh also maintained an excellent winner to runner ratio of 42% for the season, 40 of his 96 individual runners winning a race at some point in 2025, that figure only bettered by Aidan O’Brien (53%) among trainers that had more than 50 individual runners in Ireland this season.

Of those trainers that had between 25 and 50 individual runners, Paddy Twomey did best with 60% winners to runners ratio (29 winners from 48 individual runners) and Joe Murphy equalled the same hit rate, 15 winners from 25 individual runners.

Those figures don’t include the crowning achievement of his career, Cercene winning the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot, and Murphy enjoyed plenty of success in good races at home with his small team.

Vorfreude won the Ulster Derby in tenacious style back in June, while Alphecca backed up quickly after a maiden win in early October to win a valuable sales race at Naas soon afterwards. He looks to have another decent type for premier handicaps around a mile next season with Lady Lilac, the three-year-old filly shaping well when sixth on handicap debut at the Curragh last Sunday, meeting trouble at a key stage.