'He's done everything asked of him' - connections on their Ryanair Chase hopefuls

Gordon Elliott, trainer of Fury Road and Conflated
I was happy with Fury Road the last day, it was a good run and he was in the lead coming over the last. Conflated can run well fresh and will be going to the Gold Cup fresh and well. We ran him in the Ryanair last year and it was probably the wrong race.

Alex Hales, trainer of Millers Bank
He’ll have his last crucial bit of work on Friday, then he’ll go to Ascot next weekend for the Ascot Chase and we’ll go from there. The season started poorly when he fell at the first at Aintree. It was our first big aim of the year for him, but he ran creditably at Carlisle and was brilliant at Huntingdon. I was slightly underwhelmed by the King George, he didn’t pick up as we’d hoped. He came back very quiet, so maybe he wasn’t 100 per cent, but it’s always tough for these second-season chasers. There’s no easy option, but the Ascot Chase is a race I think he’d run well in.

Nicky Henderson, trainer of Shishkin
Shishkin is very good and the Ascot Chase on Saturday week is the plan. We’re looking forward to it and it’ll be his first time dealing with the trip. He won over a similar distance when winning the Sidney Banks, but that was over hurdles. All is well with him, he’s been working well at home and he’s in great form.