Last year the horse racing world was rocked by Gordon Elliot, the horse trainer's infamous photo of him sitting on top of a dead horse. The Meath native was handed a six month suspension from training.
Elliot lost prestiogous horses and missed the 2021 Cheltenham Festival, while his horses rode under the caretaker trainer Denise Foster.
The 43 year-old has made his return to action in September and saw his 124th winner of the season at Naas on Sunday.
Relflecting on the photo, Elliot said he was looking forward to heading to Cheltenham with his biggest team of horses ever. He also didn't think he'd be able to return to action.
“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,”, he told The Mirror
Well done Betfair for dropping Grand National-winning trainer Gordon Elliott after images circulated of him sitting on a dead horse.
What a total ****#Betfair #mondaythoughts pic.twitter.com/ehH5zwhLC6— Ian Bevis (@ianbevis) March 1, 2021
In other news Elliott is hoping he might get his way and persuade Michael O’Leary to run Conflated in the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup rather than the Ryanair Chase.
The eight-year-old proved he has what it takes to make his mark at the highest level when landing the Paddy Power Irish Gold Cup at Leopardstown earlier this month.
He said: "(I'd go for) the Gold Cup. Michael wants to go for the Ryanair, I want to go for the Gold Cup so we'll probably have an argument for five minutes and normally he gets his way, but I hope I get mine.
"There's only one Gold Cup. If you win the Ryanair, that's grand, but the Gold Cup is the Gold Cup.
"I just think the way the Ryanair will be run, with the likes of Allaho in there, if he does make a mistake or miss a fence, he might not get back into the race. The Gold Cup, they might not go as quick early.
"It is a bit of a worry about the stamina, but it is a Gold Cup and there's a worry about the stamina of a lot of horses."
Odds can be found here for the Gold Cup.
https://www.oddschecker.com/cheltenham-festival/cheltenham-gold-cup/winner
Could Irish Gold Cup winner Conflated land the Cheltenham showpiece for @gelliott_racing? pic.twitter.com/3cD6WnzJdw
— Sky Sports Racing (@SkySportsRacing) February 28, 2022
