Gordon Elliott returns to the Cheltenham Festival with his 'biggest ever' team of runners.
Twelve months ago the situation was very different. The Irish trainer was suspended and watched the flagship fixture from home.
Elliott, who has one of the favourites for this year's Gold Cup, served a six-month ban after a photo emerged of him sitting on a dead horse.
He admits that a year on from what he called a "moment of madness", he did not think he would be heading to Cheltenham with such numbers.
“If you asked me this time last year would I be in this position now I’d have said no. It just shows you the team I have behind me,” Elliott said yesterday, as he paraded 28 of his Festival contenders at his Irish yard.
Elliott resumed training in September and saddled his 124th winner of the season at Naas last weekend.
Heading his Cheltenham contingent is Boodles Gold Cup runner Galvin, a leading contender on form.
Elliott won the feature in 2015 with Don Cossack and he hopes to convince owner Michael O'Leary to let Conflated join his stablemate in the line-up.
At the moment he is on course to face the Willie Mullins-trained Allaho, a 'banker' for many punters, in the Ryanair Chase.
“I don’t think Galvin has done a thing wrong all year," Elliott said.
"If you were to pick a hole in him, he possibly lacks a gear, but his work since Leopardstown has been very good. He’s been working with a few quicker horses and we’re very happy with him.
“We know he stays and has won around Cheltenham three times. He relaxes, he jumps, and if he’s within firing distance at the second last you’ll know he’ll come home strong.
“He outstayed A Plus Tard at Leopardstown - he’s the Gold Cup favourite — and I think we’ll outstay him again.
“At the start of the year I thought he was probably going to be more of a Grand National horse but he’s improving week in week out.
“He’s going to have to improve again to win a Gold Cup but I think he’s going into the race with a really good profile. You know he stays, you know he likes the track, Davy Russell will ride him and there’s no better around.”
Elliott has already sent out three winners at Cheltenham this season, including impressive JCB Triumph Hurdle hope Pied Piper.
He still has faith in Fil Dor, ridden by Russell on his four racecourse starts to date.
Trainer and jockey combined to scoop two Grand Nationals with Tiger Roll, who goes in pursuit of an incredible sixth win at the Festival.
His owner Michael O’Leary has indicated that the cross country event will be the 12-year-old’s final career start.
"He’s a great horse," Elliott said.
"The one thing with Tiger Roll is that anyone who ever comes into this yard, the one horse they want to see is Tiger Roll. We probably don’t realise how lucky we are to have a horse like him.
“There’s only one place I care about winning with him and that’s Cheltenham. Around that place he’s just different.
"He’s getting old but if he can turn up even 80 percent in the form that he has the last few years then he’ll take all the beating.”
Weatherbys Champion Bumper runner American Mike has been mentioned in the same breath as Don Cossack and National Hunt Chase candidate Run Wild Fred also has strong claims.
Elliott, sixth on the all-time list for trainers with winners at the meeting, has 32 to his name.
They have come in 11 years and he has a particularly good record in handicap hurdles, winning ten of them.
"I think we have a good team.," Elliott added.
"We're maybe a bit light in terms of two-and-a-half-mile and three-mile novice chasers – and we probably don't have anything for the Champion Chase or Stayers' Hurdle – but we'll have runners in most other races.
"We'll probably have our biggest team numbers-wise."
