'Flagbearer' Envoi Allen set to do battle for Cheveley Park's reduced jumps team in Grade 1 on Saturday

Cheveley Park are gearing up to send the first of their small but select jumps team out for Graded glory when Envoi Allen seeks a second success in Saturday's Ladbrokes Champion Chase. 

The ten-year-old has started his campaign at Down Royal in all bar one of his seasons over jumps and returns to familiar territory in the 3m Grade 1 contest (2.40), having won the race for Henry de Bromhead in 2022. 

He went down narrowly to Gerri Colombe in last year's running and faces his old rival again this weekend, with the Robcour-owned gelding odds-on to follow up his Aintree Bowl success with another Grade 1 strike. 

"Envoi Allen has summered well and has been working nicely, so Henry is very happy with him at the moment," said Chris Richardson, managing director of Cheveley Park. 

"They're watering the ground at Down Royal as there's a dry spell forecast, so hopefully we'll get lovely ground and it's a good starting point for him. He normally needs the run and he's a little older now and it's going to be stiff competition, but we're hopeful he can bounce back to his best."

The eight-time Grade 1 winner is the star name in Cheveley Park's condensed jumps team, which is down to just nine horses following the retirement of Allaho and A Plus Tard. There is plenty of class in the squad, with top-level scorers Ferny Hollow and Grangeclare West among the talent due to reappear this winter. 

Richardson said: "Envoi Allen is one of our flagbearers over jumps now, with Allaho and A Plus Tard enjoying their retirement. We're down to nine jumpers, which is a little bit of a reduction, but hopefully there's some fun to be had going forward. 

"At the moment there are no plans to add to those numbers, but that's up to Richard Thompson and his mother [Patricia] to decide. Richard very much has his hands on the reins with the jumps horses, so no doubt he'll be speaking to his mother about it." 

Audience: under consideration for a trip to DubaiCredit: Alan Crowhurst

Cheveley Park's primary focus is the Flat and Richardson is gearing up for the new season after a strong year of 39 winners for the Newmarket operation, headed by Group 1 winner Audience. 

"We've had a very solid year on the Flat," he said. "It was very exciting to win the Lockinge with Audience and he's been suitably competitive all year. He fluffed his lines at York a little and the ground wasn't in his favour at Ascot, but we've had a good season overall and we're discussing the possibility of him going to Dubai. It's something we'll consider and I think seven furlongs is his optimum trip.

"Inspiral ran two very good races in the Jacques le Marois and Sun Chariot and she's now back with me and enjoying her retirement, so overall it's been an exciting year. It was nice to win the Greenham with Esquire and the other horses like Unequal Love have been pretty competitive too. 

"We've got some nice two-year-olds who have shown a bit of promise too, like Anna Swan, Archivist and Formal. There's a lot to look forward to, and we have a couple more darts still to throw this year too, with Spherical in the Listed race (1.43) at Newmarket on Friday and Estrange, who should go for a Listed race at Doncaster next week."

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