Envoi Allen to face six in Sunday's Lawlor's Of Naas Novice Hurdle

Envoi Allen will put his lofty reputation on the line when he faces six rivals in the Grade 1 Lawlor's Of Naas Novice Hurdle on Sunday.

The six-year-old got the better of subsequent Grade 1 winner Abacadabras at Fairyhouse last month and is unbeaten in six starts for Gordon Elliott and Cheveley Park Stud.

Stablemate Conflated is one of two in the race for Gigginstown alongside the Joseph O'Brien-trained Midnight Run, who was beaten 50 lengths by Envoi Allen at Fairyhouse.

Click here to view the full racecard for the Lawlor's Of Naas Novice Hurdle

O'Brien also saddles the promising Anything Will Do, who has won four of his five career starts.

Elixir D'Ainay, who represents the powerful combination of Willie Mullins and JP McManus, got off the mark over hurdles at Naas in November where he beat the Martin Brassil-trained Longhouse Poet, who reopposes.

French Dynamite made a winning start to his hurdling career at Thurles in November and completes the lineup for trainer Mouse Morris.

Lawlor's Of Naas Hurdle confirmed field

Conflated Gordon Elliott
Jack Kennedy

Elixir D'Ainay Willie Mullins
Mark Walsh

Envoi Allen Gordon Elliott
Davy Russell

Longhouse Poet Martin Brassil
Mr Derek O'Connor

Midnight Run Joseph O'Brien
JJ Slevin

Anything Will Do Joseph O'Brien
TBC

French Dynamite Mouse Morris
Robbie Power

Could Sunday's Grade 1 prove a poisoned chalice for unbeaten star Envoi Allen?

There is no horse in training more exciting than Gordon Elliott's Envoi Allen. Six times he has started favourite under rules and six times he has come up trumps.

Few would bet against him stretching his sequence to seven in Sunday's eagerly anticipated Lawlor's Of Naas Novice Hurdle but what does the future have in store for Envoi Allen beyond that?

The air might be full of Champion Hurdle talk for the exciting novice but it might be worth noting that no winner of Sunday's Grade 1 race has gone on to enjoy any luck at the Cheltenham Festival since Mikael D'Haguenet managed the feat back in 2009 with a brilliant Ballymore success after his Naas win.

Mikael D'Haguenet: last horse to win Sunday's Grade 1 and follow up at CheltenhamCredit: Caroline Norris

Classy winners of the race such as Rule The World, Briar Hill, Bellshill, Death Duty, Next Destination and Battleoverdoyen have all come up short at Cheltenham since then.

Rule The World was sent off a 5-1 chance for the 2013 Neptune when outpointed by The New One, Briar Hill was a warm 2-1 favourite for the Albert Bartlett the following season when he fell. Bellshill, representing the same connections, finished down the field in the 2016 Supreme Novices' Hurdle after going off an 11-1 chance.

Death Duty, Next Destination and Battleoverdoyen were all sent off sub 4-1 when beaten on their respective Cheltenham Festival outings after tackling the Lawlor's Of Naas.

Death Duty, billed as an Irish banker for the 2017 Albert Bartlett, was beaten when unseating at the last having been sent off a 13-8 favourite.

Next Destination, who provided Willie Mullins with his seventh victory in the Lawlor's Of Naas a couple of seasons ago, was no match for Samcro and finished third in the Neptune while last year's winner Battleoverdoyen was pulled up in that Cheltenham contest last March.

While Mouse Morris's Rule The World may not have gone on to record Cheltenham glory, he will go down as one of the greatest winner of the Naas showpiece after a stunning Grand National triumph a few seasons later in 2016.

Morris, who looks set to be represented in Sunday's race by impressive Thurles winner French Dynamite, also won this race in 2008 with subsequent Ballymore runner-up Venalmar.

Golden Cygnet: won the 1978 Supreme Novices' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival by 15 lengths after scoring at Naas

As far as Cheltenham is concerned, it's not all doom and gloom for winners of this race, as Golden Cygnet, one of the most impressive Supreme Novices' Hurdle scorers of all time, managed to win this race in 1978, just 12 days after he won at Leopardstown.

Envoi Allen will run on Sunday as a hot favourite and confidence could hardly be any higher in Elliott's charge after stablemate Abacadabras, no match for the potential star in the Royal Bond at Fairyhouse, ran out an easy winner of a Grade 1 at Leopardstown last week.

If there's a horse capable of bolstering the recent record of the Lawlor's Of Naas Novice Hurdle, Envoi Allen is well placed to do so.

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