‘He’s a proper horse’ – Gordon Elliott is bullish about these four Cheltenham hopes

Gordon Elliott’s Cheltenham Festival stable tour came out this week and the County Meath-based trainer provided an upbeat bulletin about a number of his major contenders. With this in mind, we’ve selected four of his potential runners who Elliott is particularly bullish about. Check out our free tips page for daily content across British and Irish racing.

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Romeo Coolio (Champion Bumper)

Elliott clearly likes this horse a lot and he made a winning start to his bumper career last month. The trainer said: “I’ve always loved him. He won at Fairyhouse on a day when our horses ran below par and he wasn’t fully fit for it either. It was a messy race and he was nicely on top at the line. He’s a proper horse.” If this lad lines up in the Champion Bumper, he’s got to be taken seriously judging by these comments and a big run could be on the cards.

Irish Point (Champion or Stayers’ Hurdle)

Irish Point looked awesome when winning at Leopardstown over Christmas and his trainer’s comments might surprise a few. Elliott said: “He’s a young horse with a great attitude and plenty of class. He’s won his last four and hasn’t done a lot wrong in his whole career. It’s not beyond the bounds of possibility he could run in the Champion Hurdle. I could see him running a huge race.” Impressive over three miles last time out, he would have to be exceptional to be as effective over two.

Firefox (Supreme Novices’ Hurdle)

This horse was a little disappointing at Naas last time out but his trainer believes he’s got to the bottom of that very flat effort. He’ll be suited by the return to two miles and Gordon Elliott likes him a lot. He said: “The way he travels and jumps, the Supreme will be right up his street. He wasn’t right at Naas. That wasn’t him and we found a few issues afterwards. We know he’s a lot better than that.” The best could be yet to come from this exciting prospect.

Brighterdaysahead (Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle)

Brighterdaysahead hasn’t put a foot wrong so far and the five-year-old is very promising. Elliott stated “She’s a proper mare. She’s very, very good, and I don’t say that about too many. She’s got a pedigree to be nice and has a bright future. She looks like a chaser but the plan now is the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham. She’ll come on from her win at Navan as we missed a little bit of time with her.” It appears that this mare really could be anything.

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