How Gordon Elliott transformed Irish jump racing in an incredible decade
Alan Sweetman charts the rise of a titan of the training ranks
Just ten years ago Gordon Elliott had trained fewer than 100 winners and, although one of those was Silver Birch’s extraordinary victory in the 2007 Grand National, none was at Grade 1 level.
The top-level breakthrough came nine years ago this month when Jessies Dream won the Drinmore Chase at Fairyhouse after the Willie Mullins-trained Mikael D’Haguenet handed him the race with a last-fence fall. Jessies Dream had joined Elliott from Mullins two seasons previously.
That contest can be seen as the prologue to a theme which has defined jump racing in Ireland ever since, a battle for supremacy between two outstanding trainers of different generations and backgrounds.
Read the full story
Read award-winning journalism from the best writers in racing, with exclusive news, interviews, columns, investigations, stable tours and subscriber-only emails.
Subscribe to unlock
- Racing Post digital newspaper (worth over £100 per month)
- Award-winning journalism from the best writers in racing
- Expert tips from the likes of Tom Segal and Paul Kealy
- Replays and results analysis from all UK and Irish racecourses
- Form study tools including the Pro Card and Horse Tracker
- Extensive archive of statistics covering horses, trainers, jockeys, owners, pedigree and sales data
Already a subscriber?Log in
Published on 15 January 2020inFeatures
Last updated 08:50, 15 January 2020
Copy- Government says it is working 'at pace' to have white paper measures in force by the summer
- 'The only thing you can do is lie fallow and regroup' - Meades to return with scaled-back operation following blank period
- The Gambling Commission has launched its new corporate strategy - but what are the key points?
- 'It was tragic it happened to Paddy but it was a good thing for the jockeys who followed - good came out of bad'
- Acquisitions, exits and retail resilience - what we learned from Flutter and 888's results
- Government says it is working 'at pace' to have white paper measures in force by the summer
- 'The only thing you can do is lie fallow and regroup' - Meades to return with scaled-back operation following blank period
- The Gambling Commission has launched its new corporate strategy - but what are the key points?
- 'It was tragic it happened to Paddy but it was a good thing for the jockeys who followed - good came out of bad'
- Acquisitions, exits and retail resilience - what we learned from Flutter and 888's results