Gordon Elliott's star novice hurdler Envoi Allen is entered in the senior ranks at Dublin Racing Festival as the entries for the eight Grade One races were published.
Envoi Allen is unbeaten in all spheres since joining the Gordon Elliott team having been a big-money acquisition by Cheveley Park Stud from the pointing fields. Envoi Allen notched a third Grade One when winning at Naas last time out, but the Dublin Racing Festival could see him step up into open rather than novice company for the first time.
Gordon Elliott's charge is among a stellar cast potentially lining up for the two-day meeting at the Foxrock venue on the first weekend of February.
Entries for Dublin Racing Festival are out;
✅Delta Work
✅Kemboy
✅Road To Respect
✅Apple's Jade
✅Honeysuckle
✅Notebook
✅Battleoverdoyen
✅Minella Indo
✅Min
✅Envoi Allen
✅Abacadabras
✅Aspire Tower
More Information Here https://t.co/7aTcKvuGSf #DRF #DublinRacingFestival pic.twitter.com/tO1mUwbmFf— Leopardstown RC (@LeopardstownRC) January 13, 2020
Delta Work, Kemboy, Apple's Jade, Honeysuckle, Notebook, Battleoverdoyen, Minella Indo, Min, Abacadabras and Aspire Tower are among the early acceptors for the eight Grade One races over the two days.
Gold Cup
The €250,000 Irish Gold Cup is sponsored by Paddy Power for the first time and an entry of 15 has been made for the feature race of the weekend on the second day of the Festival.
Last year’s first and second-placed horses, Bellshill and Road To Respect are engaged once again for Willie Mullins and Noel Meade respectively. Mullins could also call upon Kemboy, Ireland’s highest rated chaser, and Cadmium as he bids to win the race for the 11th time.
Gordon Elliott has yet to win the race but has a lively contender in Christmas winner Delta Work, the Summerhill trainer also has Grade 1 winners Shattered Love and the long-absent Death Duty.
Sizing John, the winner in 2017, and Jett have been entered by Jessica Harrington while Henry De Bromhead has Chris’s Dream and Balko Des Flos.
La Bague Au Roi was successful in the Grade 1 Flogas Novice Chase at the meeting a year ago and she could yet represent Warren Greatrex. She is one of only five UK entries across the Grade One races, one of whom, Wating patiently has already been ruled out for the season.
Champion trainer Willie Mullins has been a big supporter of the Dublin Racing Festival and tops the entries numerically with 57 across the eight Grade One races. Gordon Elliott who currently tops the trainers' table for the season, has 34 entries.
It's a first Dublin Racing Festival for new Leopardstown CEO Tim Husbands, who said, “The quality of the entries is superb, and we are grateful to the owners and trainers who continue to support Dublin Racing Festival. Once again, the prize money has increased for 2020 to over €2 million which will add to the excitement of this major sporting event.”
