Ladbrokes Champion Chase Tips: Envoi Allen Can Regain His Crown
Down Royal gets a rare outing on ITV Racing on British shores on Saturday with their feature contest, arguably the race of the season so far on that side of the Irish Sea, the Ladbrokes Champion Chase takes place. A field of five will collide and the 2023 and 2022 winners are in the field. Billy Grimshaw is siding with one of them...
It seems like a lifetime ago that ENVOI ALLEN was declared the second coming by excitable National Hunt fans as he wo the Champion Bumper and then brushed all in his way aside with consummate ease en-route to winning the Gallagher (then the Ballymore). He looked to have the racing world at his feet and while he has won at three Cheltenham Festivals, which undoubtedly makes him a great horse by any barometer, he never quite hit the heights we expected in the days of spring 2020.
The fact he is still somehow only ten boggled my mind for a few minutes when first looking at this race, but the Henry De Bromhead trained veteran showed no signs of regression last season when a fine second in the Ryanair as well as when just going down in this race by a neck to the favourite again this time round Gerri Colombe. He did however look a very tired horse on his final start at Aintree when brushed aside by Jonbon and perhaps that explains the price discrepancy with a horse who beat him a whisker in this race last season, as well as the age factor.
Gerri Colombe has shown himself to be somewhat more than the big boat many were pegging him as early in the last campaign, with his second in the Gold Cup followed by his Aintree Bowl success proving he had gears as well as endless stamina. He is only eight and could well just be hitting his prime as a staying chaser, which will frighten his rivals in that division. However, with Gordon Elliott already insisting the end goal of his season is another crack at Galopin in the Gold Cup, I worry that he will be left with a bit to do in here, unlike Envoi Allen who surely will be pot hunting more smartly now at ten turning eleven this season.
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Who is the better horse if both on their best day? Gerri Colombe. But will today be the best day, and will Gordon be devastated if Gerri is just tapped for toe by a horse proven at intermediate trips like Envoi Allen here? Maybe he will, as we know he loves to dominate this Down Royal meeting, but I'd be surprised. Henry De Bromhead stated in a recent stable tour that plans were in the air for Envoi Allen this season but the horse was in rude health, and reading between the lines I reckon he'll be absolutely cherry ripe for this day as he aims to regain the title he won in 2022 and lost by such a short margin in 2023. At 4/1 vs 8/11, I'm willing to stick some of my cash down to find out anyway!
Hewick is certainly no back number in here and has race fitness in comparison to the big two in the market on his side, with Shark Hanlon itching to get his stable star out plenty before his ban begins on 1st December. The end goal for Hewick will no doubt be a repeat success in the King George at Kempton, and winning there proves he has pace to go with speedier staying chasers, however I think Shark will be building him up slowly for that Christmas crescendo and this could be another stepping stone. I am actually pretty keen on the form of his defeat to French Dynamite, and I've tipped that horse for Charlie Hall glory so hopefully I'm right, but at this stage of the season it's all about finding horses who you think will be primed.
Delta Work is another classy runner in this field of five but I would be amazed if he got involved truth be told. We know his season revolves around the Cross Country at Cheltenham followed by the Grand National in the spring, so a staying on third or fourth would do just fine you'd suspect for Gordon. Visionarian completes the quintet and looks outclassed.