CULLENTRA on Monday morning is a relaxing place to be. Gordon Elliott will tell you himself, it’s an easy morning, nothing too strenuous goes on. On this Monday, Cheltenham is looming large, and it’s a case of just getting horses there in one piece now.

Such a simple task seemed further away than ever this day 12 months ago, when Cullentra was anything but a relaxing place to be. This old farmland turned state-of-the-art training facility, the most tangible evidence of hard work, skill and progress, was a scene of shock and trauma.

Ask Elliott if he thought one year on he’d be bringing his biggest team to Cheltenham and he’ll tell you no. But he says that is testament and credit to a superb team of staff and loyal owners, and it’s been the story of the season so far.

When Cheveley Park announced they’d be taking their horses out of Cullentra, it nearly seemed more likely than not that a mass exodus would occur. In fact, nearly the opposite has happened, with owners galvanised by the whole ordeal Elliott went through, and keen to get behind the man. Elliott would love nothing more than to repay the faith, forgiveness and loyalty shown in him by his owners with a winner for each of them at Cheltenham, and he has every chance of doing so.

He was in great form discussing his big names below.

Mighty Potter

1-131

Supreme Novices’ Hurdle

Three Stripe Life

14-122

Supreme Novices’ Hurdle

They’re both in the Supreme and Ballymore. We’ll look at the ground before making a final decision. Three Stripe Life has been second in two Grade 1s. He’s only had three runs over hurdles in all. Mighty Potter, who is a very good horse, will probably go to the Supreme. He hasn’t got that style where you go ‘wow’, he races a bit behind the bridle and he just does what he has to do when he gallops but if they go a fast gallop and he doesn’t get outpaced early, I think he’ll come home very strong and the hill will suit him. Let them all race away and Jack can do what he does best and have him coming home well.

Riviere D’Etel

2137-11122

Arkle Trophy

I didn’t think she did anything wrong the last day at Leopardstown. I think she’d have won if she jumped the last. The one thing I loved about her, which I wasn’t sure about before, but she showed a lovely attitude to come back and gallop again after her mistake. She was entitled to walk home after that but she put her head down and she wanted to win and she would have won with another couple of strides. I thought she was awesome there, apart from jumping the last, she was brilliant all the way, but that’s racing and you have to jump. Everyone has got their own opinion but I think it was the difference between winning and losing and I think the race will suit her in Cheltenham - the harder they go the better she’ll be. There’s a couple of English horses in it, they’ll want to go fast, and that’ll suit us.

If you want to take advantage of weight for age, you can, and that’s what we did but I think she is improving all the time. She’s not a filly that you’d gallop that much at home, she’s highly strung. If anyone saw her run for her first few novice chases, she was like a rasher. She’s as fit as a flea now. The more racing she’s had, she’s putting on weight. She looks better now than she did the first day she ran whether sometimes it’s the other way around - you start off heavier and lose it. She’s actually putting on weight every time she runs. So I’m really happy with her.

Zanahiyr

1114-21222

Champion Hurdle

Teahupoo

1112-111

Champion Hurdle

Honeysuckle has been awesome for the last couple of years and there’s probably not a person in racing that wouldn’t love to see her win again but my two horses are in good form. Zanahiyr has six and a half lengths to find on Honeysuckle from Leopardstown but I think he can make up at least a bit of that distance. I think the track will suit him and we’re going to put cheekpieces on him, not because he’s ungenuine but just to help him a little bit earlier in the race, when he can get a bit behind the bridle. The faster the gallop the better. If there was something to make the pace, it would suit him. I think he’s got a good each-way chance

Teahupoo was good in the Red Mills. It’s kind of hard to know what he has because he doesn’t show much at home but in fairness to him every time he goes to the track he keeps improving. Zanahiyr has taken Honeysuckle on and got beaten, but Teahupoo is a horse that is coming under the radar, we don’t know how good he is, whether he is a Grade 2 or Grade 3 horse or Grade 1. I think he’ll be better in good ground. Robert said he hated the heavy ground down the back in Gowran. When he jumped the second last in a line he was probably on the best of the ground and he really stretched there.

It’s only when you sit down and think what he done in Gowran and when you think what he done in Limerick, he probably showed that he is a really good horse. He was beaten in Limerick and he came back and showed a great attitude to win. It’s normally good horses who do that.

Queens Brook

123-212

Mares’ Hurdle

I’m delighted with her. She hasn’t been the easiest to train but she came on an awful lot from Punchestown the other day. If you watch her actually, she got bet in Wexford but she’s always better for a run or two, she’s very hard to get fit. I’d say we’ll go for the Mares, it’s an open race - Henry’s horse is favourite and she’s been beat a couple of times this year. Peter Fahey’s horse is good and it’ll be interesting to see if Concertista runs here.

Run Wild Fred

3455222-212

National Hunt Chase

I think the National Hunt Chase is made for him because he’s got loads of experience. I think it’s a race that suits second season novices, the stats seem to tell you that. There’s a lot of jumping, you have to settle, you have to relax. The way this horse jumps, he ticks a lot of the boxes. He’s been second in an Irish National, he’s been second in a Grade 1, he’s won a Troytown, he’ll like the drying ground. Down the back in Leopardstown he took off and landed on a fence. I think Fury Road on his day is very, very good and things just came together for him there. Run Wild Fred has done very little wrong and I’m looking forward to running him.

Ginto

121-111

Ballymore/Albert Bartlett

He’s got the Ballymore and the Albert Bartlett options. I’d say we’ll just see what way the ground is before we make any final decision. I don’t think Ginto is as slow as everyone is saying. Everyone is saying he’s a three-miler but he won his maiden hurdle and his two graded races over two and a half. If you look at the way Jamie (Codd) rode him at Navan, he looked like he was half asleep before he picked up. Then at Naas he had to do what isn’t ideal and that was make all the running so he was kind of looking around and not doing a stroke but he was never not going to get beat. I think a bit of a gallop at Cheltenham, slotting him in behind the leaders will suit him a lot better.

Farouk D’Alene

141-1221

Brown Advisory Novice Chase

He probably lacks a bit of a gear but he’s a very good horse and he’s a classy horse. He could run in the three-mile, a race that could cut up. We’ll see how he is and see which way the ground is, if he went over and the ground was too lively, we wouldn’t run him.

Tiger Roll

P614-P0

Cross Country Chase

He’s the horse of a lifetime. We had him in Cheltenham last week schooling over banks and he was very good. The one negative is if the ground is soft - Tiger Roll isn’t the same horse if the ground is soft, the better the ground, the better the chance he has, I don’t think there’s an awful lot of rain between now and Cheltenham, maybe 8-10mm over the next couple of weeks. If the ground keeps drying out, we’re very happy.

There’s only one place I care about winning for him and it’s Cheltenham. His run the last day in a handicap hurdle was equally as good or bad as it was in the Boyne Hurdle the year before. If the ground is good around that place he’s just different.

Look he’s getting older, to say he still is what he was in his pomp is probably hard to say but if he can turn up 80% of what he was in the last couple of years in the Cross Country race, he’ll take all the beating.

Delta Work

5U3-466

Cross Country

He schooled over the cross country course at Cheltenham last week and we were delighted with him. We thought it would be a nice route to go with him before going for the National, it might just sweeten him up a bit. He got jarred up at Leopardstown last year and he just hasn’t been the same over park fences, so we said we’d school him over the cross country course and see how he went and he was awesome. The plan is to run him in the cross country and then on to the English National all being well. He’s only nine so if he took to it he could be a nice replacement for Tiger Roll.

American Mike

1-11

Champion Bumper

He’s in good form. Jamie Codd rode him in work and he was very happy with him. He will probably do another bit next Monday in Leopardstown but he’s spot on so far and we’re very happy with him. We’ve gone the same route as we did with Sir Gerhard and Envoi Allen, a few of those good horses as he has been showing all those sort of signs. He’s gotten very strong and he seems in good form. Obviously Willie’s horse (Facile Vega) sets a very high standard but our lad won’t lie down.

Party Central

1221-1411

Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle

Say Goodbye

212232

Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle

Party Central was good in Leopardstown. The better the ground the better chance she’ll have. Last season she was just beaten in the Grade 2 bumper at Leopardstown where she just got blocked a few times.

Then when she was beaten in Down Royal earlier this season, she gave herself a nasty cut. Apart from that, she has done little else wrong. Davy was probably in front a mile too soon on her at Punchestown and she just fell over the line in a listed hurdle.

She definitely goes (for the Mares’ Novices’) and Say Goodbye will probably join her. She’s a bigger price but if the ground is dry she could have an each-way chance at a massive price. She’s in good form and she’s never looked as well as she does at the moment. She’s carrying a nice bit of condition and she has a great coat on her and I’m very happy with her.

Fil Dor

1112

Triumph Hurdle

Pied Piper

11

Triumph Hurdle

At the moment both of them will go to the Triumph. Willie’s horse (Vauban) was good the last day but I think the track will suit Fil Dor very well. It might suit him better than it does Willie’s horse who showed an awful lot of pace at Leopardstown and travelled very well. They’re two good horses. If I’m perfectly honest, I’d say Pied Piper is a quicker type of horse, Fil Dor is a real stayer. You could see the Piper staying at two miles next year whereas the other lad could be a three-mile horse.

Minella Crooner

1-11212

Albert Bartlett

He’s an unassuming horse and I just love the way he hits the line in every race. I thought he hit the line very well in Leopardstown. I think Danny Mullins rode the lads to sleep in that race and even at that, he made a mistake at the second last and I’d say he’ll learn a lot from it but I love the way he hit the line. Even then Jack said coming in, he’s getting better every day. He’s the type of horse that if Jack didn’t work in the yard every day, you wouldn’t know anything about him, you wouldn’t be thinking about him. At home, he’s fairly slow, he doesn’t do anything fancy but when he goes to the track he gallops. I’d say Jack is getting to know him better every day and he’ll know him better again come Cheltenham.

Hollow Games

1/11-1133

Albert Bartlett

He’s disappointed me for his last couple of runs albeit he’s only finished a length or three parts behind Minella Crooner. I just don’t think he was finishing out his races as well as I’d have liked him to. We’ve changed a couple of things around with him and we’re going to put a tongue strap on him for the Albert Bartlett. He’s going to be a nice chaser, but I just have a feeling that he didn’t run as wel on his last two runs as what he’s probably shown me.

Galvin

11111-121

Gold Cup

Conflated

14-U211

Ryanair Chase/Gold Cup

I think the Gold Cup is a race that there’s probably a question mark on every horse. Galvin hasn’t done a thing wrong all year. Maybe you could say he lacks a bit of a gear but we’ve been working him with some quicker horses since Leopardstown and he’s done very well. We’ve been happy with him. He’s won around Cheltenham three times. He relaxes and he jumps. If he’s within firing distance of them going two or three fences out, you know he’s going to be coming home strong.

You’d question whether he was this class of a horse at the start of the year, but in fairness to him he’s just come up through the ranks his own way. If you look at the grit he showed at Leopardstown the last day. We probably rode him a bit cold in the north because we weren’t really that sure whether he was that class. We rode him more positively at Leopardstown and he outstayed A Plus Tard and I think we’ll outstay him again. I just think he’s going into the race with a real good profile, you know he stays and you know he’ll like the track.

Conflated is in the Gold Cup and he’s in the Ryanair. Michael (O’Leary) said yesterday he wants to go for the Ryanair. We’d like to go for the Gold Cup. There’s probably a bit of a kink in him because when he’s good, he’s good and when he’s bad, he’s very bad. He seems to be in a good place at the moment. People have knocked his form but he beat last year’s Gold Cup winner five and a half lengths going away. It’s easy saying it now but anyone who watched the race, you could see after five fences that he looked happy, you could see the rhythm he was in and he jumped great. You see him there this morning, he went around in the middle of the string, he wouldn’t have done that a year or two years ago. He looks better. He might have been a horse that had a couple of niggly problems that we weren’t sure of but he looks better now.

Michael wants to go for the Ryanair. We’ll probably have an argument for five minutes and normally it’s his way, but I hope I get my way this time. There is only one Gold Cup. If you win a Ryanair, that’s grand, it’s a Ryanair, but the Gold Cup is the Gold Cup. And I just think the way the Ryanair will be run this year, with Allaho there, if he does make a mistake, he might not get into the race. He has a better chance of getting into a rhythm in the Gold Cup. There is a worry about his stamina but it’s a Gold Cup, a lot of horse’s have that worry.

Mount Ida

31213-11

Mares’ Chase

I fancied her going into the Kim Muir last year. She actually came home a bit sore and I’d say she could have been hurting through the race, she jumped right early and it took her a while to warm up. She’s been a different mare this year after we figured out a few little niggly problems we needed to look after. It wouldn’t worry me about her going back that way around - I know she was in Fairyhouse and Clonmel, but I don’t think it will bother her.

Handicap chances

The Tide Turns was very good with Jack in Punchestown and then he ran well in Leopardstown, where he didn’t get much of a run. I think the bit of nicer ground will suit him as well. I loved the way he travelled in an open race at Gowran Park. Jack will probably ride him or we could claim off him.

Sire Du Berlais goes for the Pertemps. Rob James will ride him and he’ll take 7lbs off him. He worked well this morning. It’s probably an open race this year looking at it. No harm to him, but I didn’t think Dunboyne would be fighting for favouritism at the start of the year. He has his chance and he did get stopped a couple of times on his last two runs, but I just think Sire Du Berlais comes alive around Cheltenham at this time of year - he was second in the Stayers’ Hurdle last season as well. We’ll probably run a few in the Pertemps.

I’d have loved to get Saint Felicean into the Martin Pipe but it’ll probably be the Coral Cup now, if he goes.Indigo Breeze could be one for the Martin Pipe but I’m sure we’ll have plenty of options for that. Buddy Rich goes for the Grand Annual. He runs well fresh and with a bit of nice ground, he could go well. We’re very happy with him. We’ve Andy Dufresne in that race as well - he’s in good form.

Grand Paradis could be one for the Paddy Power Plate. I’m just not sure he’s getting home on his last couple of runs over three miles but if you look at the day he came down at Down Royal over two and a half miles on nice ground, he travelled well into the race and jumped like a buck and he wasn’t actually fit that day.