Gordon Elliott isn’t lying when he says he targets the Down Royal Festival with some of his best horses.

He has sent out no less than 19 runners at the two-day meet over only the last four seasons. This includes Outlander and Don Cossack, his winners of the newly sponsored Grade 1 Ladbrokes Champion Chase, but perhaps more significant is the list of horses Elliott has allowed to make discipline debuts up north.

Death Duty, Tombstone, Felix Desjy, Rapid Escape and Malone Road all won their bumpers at Down Royal in the time period stated, while Coeur Sublime and Mega Fortune both made winning starts to their juvenile hurdle careers when taking the juvenile hurdle which opens the Saturday card.

Delta Work began his chasing career at the meeting last season and now he returns to the venue as a serious Gold Cup aspirant set to have his first run as a senior chaser in either the Grade 1 Ladbrokes Champion Chase or the Grade 2 Daily Mirror Chase.

The latter is a race restricted to novices from last season so would represent in easier target for Delta Work, and it has to be a runner at this stage, considering Gigginstown’s wealth of options in the main event. However he’ll be going back in distance to two miles and three furlongs and the hope is that he can have his mettle tested in a Grade 1 against some big guns, namely King George winner Clan Des Obeaux and last year’s very impressive winner of this race, Road To Respect.

Delta Work will be the first from last year’s highly acclaimed RSA Chase 1-2-3, to emerge for as a senior chaser. He finished third to Topofthegame and Santini in that race, and while he looked to be beaten fair and square, it’s worth pointing out that he arrived to Cheltenham off a 74-day break, given he was swerved away from the Dublin Racing Festival on account of the very firm ground.

He then backed up at Punchestown to destroy both Discorama and A Plus Tard, who were coming off clear career bests at Cheltenham.

Elliott is right when he says Delta Work will have to improve in a race like Saturday’s but he clearly has a very high platform to come off and he has the scope to prove himself one of the best three-mile chasers around on Saturday.

Deep race

Clan Des Obeaux is an intriguing contender for Paul Nicholls, who has won this race four times, twice with Kauto Star. He was a revelation when travelling all over Thistlecrack in the King George last season and went on to perform admirably though only finishing fifth in the Gold Cup.

A lot was made of his Cheltenham form prior to that and it’s true that he may not be able to produce his best at the track but more than anything else, it appears that he needs to go right-handed. His form going in that direction reads 01211. He showed at Kempton how good he is and he probably is the one to beat on Saturday.

In many ways Road To Respect is a forgotten horse but it’s worth watching him in again in this race last season - he absolutely thumped his rivals by 16 lengths. That was a race that prompted Noel Meade to become very excited about the season ahead but things just never went his way after. He slipped when turning out of the back straight in a slowly run Savills Chase at Leopardstown and then went down to Bellshill by only a head in the Irish Gold Cup.

Speaking to Meade for a Talking Trainer column ahead of the new season, it was interesting that he felt that Road To Respect did a lot of damage to himself racing on the firm ground at Leopardstown for that race. If that is the case, the son of Balko did very well to finish third to Frodon in the Ryanair Chase. Freshened up, he will be a big player if allowed to run on Saturday.

It’s also worth mentioning Snow Falcon, who won the Grade 2 chase on this card last season and who has race fitness to his advantage after winning the Grade 2 PWC Chase at Gowran Park.

Elliott’s prospects

With regard to his excellent record at this festival, Elliott’s entries elsewhere are exciting. Saint D’Oroux could make his Irish and hurdles debut in the colours of Simon Munir and Isaac Souede in the juvenile maiden hurdle on Saturday. He finished second at Dieppe on his only start for Guillame Macaire in France.

Envoi Allen is in the two-mile maiden hurdle on Friday and the two-mile-six-furlong maiden hurdle on Saturday. Bumper winner Andy Dufresne is also in the latter race while Elliott has a wealth of potentially very good horses in the bumpers on both days.

And of course, there is Samcro, who came into this meeting last season amidst a series of hype and excitement but unfortunately for connections, started the season as he meant to go on with a disappointing second to Bedrock in WKD Hurdle.

He could run in a beginners chase over an extended two miles and three furlongs on Friday and this time he is barely getting a mention, something connections will undoubtedly be thankful of.

And yet, we should be excited by Samcro. Chasing was always going to be his game and now that he is freshened up and will likely get soft ground to race on, it would be no surprise to see him roar back into the conscience of racing fans on both sides of the Irish Sea with a big performance on Friday.