GORDON Elliott’s rampant run to begin the 2025/’26 Irish National Hunt campaign was already the storyline of the season heading into the festive period, and a dominant Christmas showing again took centre stage among the headlines this past week.

It takes quite a lot for a racing story to make the front page of a national newspaper (typically a controversy!), so seeing Elliott’s St Stephen’s Day six-timer as the sole news piece on the front of the Irish Daily Star on December 27th was a fair representation of the type of splash he was making. More of the same going forward would be excellent for the sport.