'He has class from the Flat and is working well' - Royal Ascot ace and 'lovely' Gordon Elliott maiden winner bidding to emulate greats

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This race, named after a legend in Moscow Flyer, has a roll of honour befitting the 26-time winner, featuring superstars such as Kicking King, Vautour, Douvan and Min since the turn of the century.

Despite the prestige of the event we only had a quartet declared and that field has dropped to three after Denis Hogan withdrew Frankie John, who finished fifth in the Grade 1 Ballymore Novice Hurdle at Naas on Friday. Here is the lowdown on the remaining contenders.

Sober

Willie Mullins, as is always the case, holds the key this year with Sober and Free Spirit in the line-up and the fact that Paul Townend has opted for the Queen Alexandra winner would suggest he is very much the number one hope from Closutton. 

That said, Townend picked Saint Baco (sixth) over Sortudo (second) in the Ballymore Novice Hurdle on Friday, so he doesn't always get it right. 

Townend generally does, though, and Sober looks a serious talent. His sole start over hurdles didn't tell us much as it was only a small five-runner novice at Killarney in the summer and he was entitled to win it. He made the odd error and didn't look a complete natural, but still saw off the now 124-rated Arch Empire emphatically. 

After that he burst clear under Ryan Moore to win Royal Ascot's Queen Alexandra by five lengths, earning an official Flat mark of 111. 

Sober: won the Queen Alexandra at Royal Ascot last summerCredit: Edward Whitaker

Who knows what to expect here, but the fact he is Townend's choice in a race in which Mullins tends to run one of his best novices bodes well. He holds an entry in the Grade 1 Tattersalls Ireland Novice Hurdle at the Dublin Racing Festival, too. 

David Casey, assistant trainer to Mullins, said: "He hasn’t run since Ascot, so we’ll see how he gets on, but he seems in good order at home. He has class from the Flat and is working well, so hopefully he can run well."

Sober is available at 33-1 for the Supreme and the last horse to do the Moscow Flyer-Supreme double was Douvan in 2015, but the 2023 winner Impaire Et Passe did land what is now the Turners Novices' Hurdle on his next start and Sober is 50-1 for that. 

Free Spirit

Free Sprit, like Sober, is also entered at the Dublin Racing Festival and the fact he is in the Nathaniel Lacy & Partners Solicitors Novice Hurdle over 2m6f as well as the Tattersalls Ireland Novice Hurdle over 2m suggests he may ideally need a bit further than the minimum trip. 

The son of Muhtathir, who is making his Irish debut having joined Mullins from Daniela Mele, was a narrow winner of a conditions hurdle at Dieppe in June over 2m1f and made his first start over 2m2f at Auteuil in October 2024.  

Casey said of Free Spirit, who runs in the familiar Galopin Des Champs silks of Audrey Turley: "He has only had two runs over hurdles and has no Flat or bumper experience. He’s a nice horse and learning the whole time and I think he can run all right too."

Free Spirit is as big as 66-1 for the Turners at Cheltenham and 50-1 for the Supreme. 

Road Exile

Gordon Elliott won back-to-back runnings of this with Felix Desjy (2019) and Andy Dufresne (2020), but his Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Don Cossack could finish only second to Mozoltov in 2013. 

Road Exile is his representative and he showed he could get down and dirty in a maiden hurdle at Navan 36 days ago, finding plenty for pressure to fend off the smart Copacabana. 

Gordon Elliott: runs Road ExileCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

He really wanted it in the closing stages there and that attitude will stand him in good stead. Expect Jack Kennedy to pop out in front and try to make all. Whether he is classy enough to repel Sober is the big question.

Gordon Elliott said: "He's a lovely horse and I loved his attitude at Navan. He stuck his neck out and wanted to win that day. This is a step up in grade for him, but he's in good form since his maiden hurdle and we kept him back from Christmas for this. He should run a big race."

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