Gordon Elliott is holding court in an office that could easily be mistaken for a museum, but something is missing.
Trophies are squeezed onto every shelf, while there are huge frames in which the saddlecloths Tiger Roll and Silver Birch carried to victory in the Aintree Grand National adorn the walls; another frame, listing the first 100 Grade One winners of his career, is waiting to be hung.
But where is the Gold Cup? It’s 10 years since Elliott scaled the ultimate peak as a trainer at Cheltenham, when Don Cossack bounded away in jump racing’s blue riband race — surely that mighty achievement should be taking pride of place at his Cullentra House base?
‘The good ones are in my house!’ Elliott assures with a smile. ‘The Gold Cup is in the kitchen! I’ll look at it every morning and afternoon; when I have my dinner, before I go to bed! I can’t believe it’s 10 years. I look at pictures now compared to then, I’ve a few more grey hairs and a couple of extra holes on my belt!
‘We’ve had a lot of good and bad days since then but that was a day we will never forget. The trophies are nice to have around…they decorate the place! It’s what it’s all about. I never used to think about them much when I was younger but I’m starting to appreciate it much more.’
Gordon Elliott is enjoying an outstanding season as the Cheltenham Festival approaches
So he should. Elliott is enjoying an outstanding season, sending out winners by the dozen and collecting so much silverware those shelves around us are coming under pressure with weight; he will head to the Cheltenham Festival in four weeks with a small equine army that has enormous potential.
It has taken time but Elliott — a man whose cogs are always whirring to find marginal gains — has filled his stable and turned the corner from the incident in 2021, when he was pictured sitting on a dead horse called Morgan, that threatened to cause irreparable damage to his career.
‘I think the best (stable) we had was in 2017 but we are just getting back to where we were,’ he says. ‘It took us a long time to rebuild and that is what we are trying to do. We are all big boys; we have got to keep our heads up and keep on going forward.’
He adds: ‘Look at this season —everything is bouncing right for us. When it’s hard, you don’t give up. That’s what makes it better when you do win. In this game, you take nothing for granted. Let’s hope we go (to Cheltenham) and get on the board.’
It will be 20 years in June since Arresting, ridden by Richard Johnson, became his first winner at Perth; Elliott would have been incredulous had you suggested back then that, two decades later, he would have more Cheltenham victories (41) than his mentor, Martin Pipe (34), but that is the fact.
Pipe’s influence is obvious, from the determination to get horses as fit as possible to the refusal to dwell on disappointment. It’s why each year Elliott tries his hardest to win the handicap named in honour of the great trainer that wraps up the Festival and why success in 2025 was so needed.
Wodhooh was his only victory of a week that stretched his patience to the limit but he says: ‘It was hard for me but it was even harder for my staff. The horses ran brilliant. We had a couple of seconds, we were placed in a lot of the big races and we just didn’t get the bounce of the ball.
‘In racing, soccer, tennis, whatever, it’s sport and if it doesn’t bounce your way, what do you do?’
Elliott opened up his Cullentra House Stables at Longwood in County Meath, Ireland
The answer is you keep trying.
Elliott has attempted to switch off at night by watching Homeland on Netflix for a second time but that’s easier said than done as Cheltenham approaches like a speeding juggernaut; he’s constantly scouring the news and that has led him into the social media vortex.
‘You can’t help it, can you?’ he says, shaking his head.
Mercifully there is always an escape and on this particular morning, the only noise we can hear is the thunder of hooves as 30 of his Cheltenham party come scurrying up his gallops — the thought of him having to wait until race 28 for a winner next month seems inconceivable.
Heading the armada is Brighterdaysahead, who is on target for the Champion Hurdle after running away with the Irish version at the Dublin Racing Festival. Owner Michael O’Leary will make a rare appearance on course for the day one feature and Elliott is hoping for better luck.
‘After she ran at Punchestown last May, we found something and rectified it,’ he reveals. ‘I’ve watched last year’s race back and, as far as I am concerned, she was beaten after a hurdle. We’ll try something different. We might even stable her outside Cheltenham.
‘It’s a good race, it’s an open year. She’s in very good form but the (Dan) Skelton horse (The New Lion) has been very good, Golden Ace (last year’s winner) keeps going under the radar and all eyes will be on Constitution Hill to see whether he goes for the race.’
What an intriguing possibility that would be; Constitution Hill is having a tune-up on the flat at Southwell on February 20 and while Elliott recognises the interest in the debate, the focus is quickly switched to what really matters: personal success. It’s how it will always be.
‘I don’t think he’ll learn any more than Nicky will already know,’ says Elliott. ‘If he runs, it will make the Champion an even better race. The horse has been unlucky. I’m not having it that he’s a bad jumper. Nicky Henderson is a master trainer: whatever he does will be right for his horse.
‘I’ll just worry about my own horses. We are looking forward to Cheltenham. You’re always looking to do something different, to find the little details. If you don’t try and tweak things, if you aren’t prepared to change, you shouldn’t be training racehorses. That’s my thought.’
