Gordon Elliott: My Friday runners at Down Royal and Dundalk

Gordon has three runners at Down Royal

It's a busy day for Cullentra House stables with three runners over jumps at Down Royal and two on the all-weather at Dundalk. Read Gordon Elliot's exclusive thoughts on their chances today.

14:40 Down Royal - Bonisland

This lad is an exciting prospect. He's a four year old gelding and has only raced twice, winning both. He came home in front in a point-to-point in May, and we then put him in a bumper a couple of weeks ago at Roscommon which he also won well. I think he has a good future ahead and we are all looking forward to watching him progress. There are a couple of horses entered here which have more experience than ours; but judging by what we've seen so far, he has a very good chance today. 

15:10 Down Royal - Toner D'Oudairies

This is his first race over fences so we can't be certain what lies in store - however, he has been schooling very well and I'm pleased with his progress. He probably should have won the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys Handicap Hurdle at Cheltenham so in a way it was disappointing to settle for second even though it was a good achievement. We hope his disappointing performance when seventh of eight runners last time at Fairyhouse was just a blip as he has been working well here in the yard. He's fit and ready and I'll be disappointed if he's not placed today. 

15:40 Down Royal - Dantes King

He was a good hurdler in his day and he's turned out to be a nice chaser too. He was a little out of his depth at Punchestown last time but he's been going well for us otherwise and I think he's a very nice horse. He's working well, he's fit, and he will give a good account of himself - although I do feel his rating might be a little high at the moment. 

19:30 Dundalk - Dumbarton

A son of Danehill Dancer, he seems to have a liking for the artificial surface. He won a maiden for Sir Michael Stoute at Windsor last year and he's turned out to be a versatile sort on both the flat and jumps so we'll continue to race him under both codes for the moment. His last flat race was at Laytown in which he managed third but he won a maiden hurdle at Cork last time out at 7/2 which was a boost for all involved. He's in with good chance this evening although looking at the other entries, this could be a tricky enough contest. 
 
21:00 Dundalk - Silverlord

He let us down over hurdles earlier this year but he seems to go well at Dundalk and we were happy with the runner-up spot at 16/1 in a handicap here last Friday. He's a hard one to get right but he's got ability and I'll be disappointed if he doesn't make the placings.  While we have him over a mile and a quarter today, I reckon he might go better over a mile and a half so we'll consider that option in the future.