Gold Cup-winning trainer to send out juveniles on Flat

The reigning Gold Cup king Gordon Elliott might be many people's idea of a champion jumps trainer in waiting, but his breakthrough Royal Ascot success with Commissioned last June has led to his agreeing to take on a batch of up to ten yearlings for next year's Flat campaign.

Elliott, whose roots are in the point-to-point community and who burst on to the scene courtesy of Silver Birch's memorable 2007 Grand National triumph, was on holiday in Barbados when Commissioned landed the Queen Alexandra Stakes under Adam Kirby.

However, Nick Bradley, who heads the syndicate that owns Commissioned, devised a plan with Elliott's bloodstock agent Aidan O'Ryan to plot a route back to the royal fixture, and Elliott is the man charged with overseeing the ambitious project.