Envoi Allen finally off the mark for Henry de Bromhead

When the Gordon Elliott controversy hit the mainstream headlines prior to the Cheltenham Festival earlier this year, bringing the sport of racing into disrepute as he was pictured straddling a dead horse at his yard, his Irish counterparts Willie Mullins and Henry de Bromhead benefitted as several top owners decided to pull their horses from Elliott’s County Meath stables. 

While Mullins’ most notable addition was Sir Gerhard, who went on to win the Grade 1 Champion Bumper, De Bromhead, who had a fantastic end to the 2020-21 jumps season — winning six races at Cheltenham before landed a maiden victory in the Grand National — was the lucky recipient of one of Elliott’s most exciting horses — a certain Envoi Allen. 

The Cheveley Park Stud-owned horse arrived at De Bromhead’s yard in Waterford unbeaten in all 11 of his outings and with five Group 1 triumphs on his impressive resume, including a victory in the 2019 renewal of the Champion Bumper, last year’s Baring Birmingham Novices’ Hurdle and the Naas Novice Hurdle. 

However, things didn’t exactly go to plan for the seven-year-old in the early stages of his move to De Bromhead’s yard. Heavily expected to win the Golden Miller Novices’ Chase at Prestbury Park back in March, heading into the prestigious two-mile, four-furlong race as the favourite in the horse racing tips on Betdaq, Envoi Allen was prominent in the early stages but ended up falling at the fourth. 

It was another frustrating outing at the Punchestown Festival — Ireland’s jumps racing finale — where he was nudged along by Grand National-winning jockey Rachael Blackmore, making no impression and losing ground on the leaders before being pulled up before the penultimate hurdle. Blackmore claimed that he hung left throughout with the vet adding that he was lame post-race. 

It is worth noting that De Bromhead had just a matter of weeks to prepare Envoi Allen for those races and it later turned out at the horse has a chopped joint, which needed surgery. The off-season and a decent rest seems to have helped recharge the seven-year-old’s batteries and he looked to be back to his very best on his seasonal reappearance at Down Royal in Northern Ireland towards the end of last month.

There were no signs of being lame or suffering from the effects of that injury from earlier this year as Envoi Allen stormed home a mammoth 22 lengths clear of Echoes Of Family in the Grade 2 Chase at the County Down racecourse. 

The Cheveley Park Stud horse made all the running in the two-mile, three-and-a-half-furlong race, going clear two out from the finish before being shaken up by Blackmore and going clear on the run-in to record his biggest victory of his career by some distance.

Following the victory, De Bromhead seemed certain that the horse is back to his very best, saying: “It’s brilliant to have him back. Obviously, things didn’t go right for us sadly – obviously at Cheltenham and then at Punchestown as well.

“I had never seen it before but he must hit the fence so hard [at Punchestown]. He had a little chip that Gerry Kelly removed and it is fantastic to see him back on the track and I’m delighted for Cheveley Park. He was brilliant.”

It is a dream start to the season for the Irish trainer after not much success with Envoi Allen towards the end of the last campaign and you could tell after that victory at Down Royal that he is very excited about what the future now holds.  

The Irish trainer has already hinted that next month’s Punchestown Chase could be the horse’s next outing, claiming it looks a ‘very obvious race’ for Envoi Allen. While his Cheltenham plan is not yet clear, the seven-year-old has been slashed down to 8/1 for the prestigious Gold Cup, whilst he also holds early entries in the Champion Hurdle, Queen Mother Champion Chase and the Ryanair Chase. 

However his season pans out from here, he’s certainly one to watch over the course of the coming months!