Top Irish trainer Gordon Elliott ran riot at the Cheltenham Festival today, smashing in three excellent winners to take his tally to six so far this Festival.
The day started off with a huge Irish roar as the highly rated Shattered Love and jockey Jack Kennedy came up trumps in the JLT, the seven-year-old mare facing up against the boys again and simply slaughtered the field.
After receiving a weight allowance due to being the only mare in the race, she jumped so cleanly, doing everything with ease. She came up against Nicky Henderson’s Terrefort on the home straight, but the race favourite was no match for the mare who stayed on ever so gamely.
Elliott also collected the prize money in the second race of the day, his five-year-old Delta Work came up trumps in the Pertemps Final after beating Elliot’s other runner in the race and race favourite Glenloe. Jockey Davy Russell was also in red hot form today after notching up a excellent hat-trick and on the way defeating Cheltenham sensation over the past years Un De Sceaux went on to say:
He travelled like a dream to be honest, at the back of the last I thought I was going to go and win. Obviously Barry Geraghty’s horse is very tough. It was just a matter of a bob of the head.
Elliott and Russell finished off their hat-tricks in some fashion. 22 horses went to post in the Plate Handicap Chase and yet again it was the Irish combination that came out on top, on board the fantastic seven-year-old The Storyteller. Despite drifting right in the final one hundred yards, Russell was firmly in command after sweeping past Splash Of Ginge.
Elliott went on to say:
The straight gave me a bit of a fright but I’m thrilled, the staff I have – it’s a big team effort and it’s brilliant. I’m over the moon.
Davy Russell is top of the leaderboard with the most wins at the Festival so far as we go in to the final day, and has dedicated his victories to his late mother who passed away last week. I’m probably not the only one thinking this, but it would be absolutely fantastic to see the Irish Jockey come out on top at the end of the week, especially after what he has been through – it would be some story.
