Horses moving yards: is it a handicap and will it affect Envoi Allen?

The Cheltenham Festival build-up is always full of talking points but this year one stands out. We have an unprecedented situation where several leading hopes – including Envoi Allen, for many the banker of the entire meeting – have changed stables two weeks before the festival. How might that affect their chances?

It seems a far-from-perfect preparation and the statistics on horses moving yards only serve to confirm the notion that it’s not easy for horses to reproduce their best after a stable switch.

Since the start of 2011, 174 horses with an official rating higher than 145 have changed stables in Britain and Ireland. Ten raced under a different code on their first run for a new trainer and 39 failed to finish. Of the other 125, just 24 recorded a post-race Racing Post Rating higher than their pre-race RPR and the average level of performance was 13.7lb lower.