Cullentra party continues as Ginto gives Morans first Grade 1 success

Sunday: Naas

While the rest of us mere mortals were shaking off the excess from Christmas, the Cullentra House festive spirit continued at Naas on Sunday with Ginto providing Gordon Elliott and his team with even more to be merry about in the Grade 1 Lawlor's Of Naas Novice Hurdle.

Elliott doesn't cut the image of a man who would need a reason to celebrate but winning four Grade 1s over the Christmas period is right up there.

Ginto was the one Elliott wanted above all others. Carrying the colours of Noel and Valerie Moran's Bective Stud, he provided the trainer's biggest supporters with a breakthrough top-flight success and did so in a style that promised there would be even more to come.

That is good news for the Morans as they swapped the driving rain of Naas for the sunnier climate of Dubai on Sunday. Rest assured the third week of March will be pencilled into the diary.

Elliott said: "It's a first Grade 1 for Bective and I'm delighted for Noel and Valerie. They are huge supporters of Cullentra and of Irish racing and this is very important. They are actually on holiday in Dubai so hopefully they are enjoying this."

Enjoying it might be an understatement. The Morans have ploughed plenty of their money into racing, in particular into Elliott's yard, ever since Swingbridge gave them the bug back in 2017.

That horse was picked up for the modest sum of £5,500 and won five times for the owners. From such humble beginnings, Bective's average spend has skyrocketed in recent years, with Ginto making €470,000 after winning his point for Elliott.

Gordon Elliott: 'He had to do all the donkey work there'Credit: Caroline Norris (racingpost.com/photos)

"Jack said he wasn't doing a stroke the whole way," Elliott added. "He jumped well and all he did was stay going. It was great.

"He's a fine horse and we thought he was very good from day one. The day he won his bumper at Navan under Jamie [Codd] he travelled better with a lead. He had to do all the donkey work there. The better the race the better he'll be."

Elliott and Bective very nearly recorded a one-two in the race with Hollow Games enduring a troubled passage to finish just a neck behind the runner-up Grand Jury. Ginto had over four lengths to spare from those rivals after making all under Kennedy.

"Hollow Games ran very well because he got stopped in his run a couple of times and he probably should have been second," Elliott said. "He'll be a nice horse, too.

"We've the Dublin Racing Festival over 2m6f as an option for both of them but the ground would be the big worry there.

"All Ginto does is stay. We had to stretch them because, if it turned into a sprint, it wouldn't have worked. It's been an unbelievable Christmas. That's four Grade 1s now. It's been great.

"It's been a huge team effort and it's a credit to all the staff and the team I have behind me. I'm very lucky. We have a lot of young horses and worked hard on restocking the place recently so hopefully there will be a few stars of the future in there."

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