GORDON Elliott has been Down Royal’s greatest supporter for more than a decade, but he has expressed real disappointment with the track’s lack of watering ahead of today’s feature BetVictor, Remembering Envoi Allen Champion Chase (3.15).

The master of Cullentra captured the opening maiden hurdle on Friday with Grade 1 bumper scorer With Nolimit, but told Racing TV’s Gary O’Brien afterwards of his frustration that officials had not provided slower ground than what was officially described as good to yielding.

Aintree Grade 1 winner Mange Tout, due to run in the Listed Bottlegreen Hurdle, was a notable withdrawal on Friday due to drying ground, while Elliott also took out Dublin Racing Festival runner-up Ballyfad from the BetVictor Beginners Chase, among other non-runners on the day.

“It’s very disappointing, for me,” said Elliott. “We know this meeting is coming at the same time every year and we’ve flagged it up weeks ago. They’re depending on rain to come and the rain hasn’t arrived. You shouldn’t be waiting on rain to come; they have the best watering system in the country here, with water the whole way around Down Royal. For me, it’s not good enough.

“Romeo Coolio won’t mind the ground [in the Grade 1 Champion Chase], but it’s not all about him - it’s about the other horses and it won’t suit them all. These are winter horses… You have a good watering system and it’s not good enough.”

On the four-time Grade 1 winner’s prospects, he added: “Romeo is in good form and we are looking forward to starting him off. I suppose we are going to learn whether three miles is his trip or not. It is a bit of an unknown, but we will know more on Saturday. We are finding out where we go for the rest of the season.”