Spectre of Elliott looms large again as jumps cranks up on spectacular Saturday

At the end of a week in which Gordon Elliott has pulled a few tricks out of his hat to reassert some authority, now it's time for the treats.

From the emergence of Michael O'Leary's decision to back Elliott with fresh investment to the trainer cracking the party whip with Davy Russell and Jack Kennedy, not to mention his first winners back at Cheltenham since his suspension, it has felt like his spectre looms large once again. Elliott was determined to come back with a bang, and he knows the value of capitalising while the big tomcat is away.

Willie Mullins' grand total of runners at Down Royal's two-day meeting is a yawning zero, so the Closutton ghost is an asterisk that hovers over all of this weekend’s fare. Invariably, this is Elliott's time of year, and he has laid down a blunt early marker of his ambitions by pulling rank with Russell and Kennedy.