Who can carry the Ryanair forward? Envoi Allen heads intriguing field as he bids for back-to-back wins

Allaho was superb, but he was also important. Because he was a champion who we did not mind never seeing in a Gold Cup or Champion Chase, we now talk more freely about the Ryanair being the Cheltenham Festival's fifth championship event.

Allaho will miss a second successive Ryanair through injury and his grip on the race has relinquished for good. There is a pressing need for a proper champion to follow him. It will do the race no good to revert to its original state of being a broom wagon for the traditional championship chases.

If you are visiting from the recent past, perhaps having fallen into a coma the day Eddie O'Leary called him "the best horse ever to look through a bridle", you may need to be assured that Envoi Allen is not the horse to take the Ryanair forward. The race he won last year was a circus. Shishkin acted like he was there on community service and third-placed Hitman is the rank outsider this year.

Envoi Allen's willingness and dependability, especially when it comes to Cheltenham in March, are to be commended. But remember two things. His winning Racing Post Rating last year was the lowest in the race in almost a decade. Also if he were to follow up here he would become the first veteran winner since Albertas Run in 2011.

There is no great star quality in Stage Star. He has an affinity for the course that could be said to match Envoi Allen's. Racing Post Ratings make the point that his Paddy Power Gold Cup win is superior form to anything Envoi Allen has achieved. That was a commanding success in a top handicap from a mark of 155. Yet Stage Star can be binary: many of his big performances have been followed by a blot, as it was with the Paddy Power.

There are four horses that you could say are genuine losses to the Gold Cup. Conflated and Protektorat have both been third in the race. Ahoy Senor had been on his best behaviour before crashing out six from home last year. Capodanno won the Cotswold Chase, a major trial.

In three of the four cases, the reason for running here could be summed up as 'the Gold Cup is too hard'. The exception would be Ahoy Senor, who drops in trip due to a building body of evidence that he does not stay as well as had always been assumed. He did not see out the Cotswold Chase, even in a fast finish, and his Ascot Chase run last time is no strong evidence either way. He got the worst ride in a race where only winner Pic D'Orhy got a good one.

Of all the effects the weather has had this week, the biggest one might be if it discourages connections of Banbridge from running. He was pulled out of last year's Turners on account of soft ground, having met with one of only two defeats over fences when conditions were soft in the Drinmore. The other was to El Fabiolo.

Banbridge has won both times he has faced the starter at Cheltenham. He won the 2022 Martin Pipe, then returned that November and nearly broke the clock in coasting to Grade 2 success.

For all the promise, he lacked a major performance until he turned up at Kempton in January. That day he beat Pic D'Orhy handsomely, receiving 3lb but having conceded the run of the race.

The only other horse to beat Pic D'Orhy in the last two seasons is Shishkin, when he was on a going day. If there is a star to carry the Ryanair forward in the post-Allaho era, it is most likely to be Banbridge. Let us hope the rain does not rob the race of its major attraction.
Race analysis by Keith Melrose

'If I hadn't run him last time he’d be favourite' – Nicholls starts afresh with Stage Star ready for big day

In an alternative universe Stage Star would not have run at Cheltenham on New Year’s Day and he would be lining up for the Ryanair Chase at the hot favourite to win a second festival contest.

That is what Paul Nicholls believes as he prepares to see if the eight-year-old can confirm the long-held view that the Ryanair Chase is a race tailor-made for him.

Even before Stage Star triumphed in last year’s Turners Novices’ Chase, Nicholls was planning for this day. “I’m already thinking this time next year we could have a serious horse for the Ryanair,” the champion trainer said in his 2023 Racing Post Cheltenham Festival Stable Tour.

A year on, Nicholls’ enthusiasm has not dimmed, although the champion trainer has admonished himself for running Stage Star in a handicap on New Year’s Day when he jumped moderately and returned stiff.

In Nicholls’ mind, that race has been struck from the record as the trainer seeks a fourth win in the Ryanair after the victories of Thisthatandtother, Taranis and Frodon, who was the last British-trained winner on that memorable day in 2019.

Stage Star, who will carry the colours of the Owners Group, is joined in the Ryanair by stablemate Hitman. Nicholls said: “Stage Star’s got a lovely chance. If I hadn’t run him last time he’d be a clear favourite for this, I think. He’s always good first time out and I’m treating this as his first run since November, so I’m very happy with him.

“Hitman was third in this race last year and he hadn’t been right after that until he was second behind Shishkin last time. I’d say he’s a lively outsider to fill the frame.”

Stage Star: can he bounce back to the form that saw him win the Paddy Power Gold Cup?Credit: Edward Whitaker

What they say

Joseph O’Brien, trainer of Banbridge
He's been in good form at home and we're happy with him. We'll walk the track in the morning, but ideally we would like to run if we can.

Gordon Elliott, trainer of Conflated and Fil Dor
I think we have two solid chances. Conflated has proper Grade 1 form and we thought he deserved to take his chance in this for another year rather than go down the cross-county route. It was unfortunate what happened to him the last twice at Leopardstown, but he ran well for a long way in both races. I think he'll run a big race. Fil Dor is a young horse who ran a big race when second to El Fabiolo at Cork. This trip will suit, he goes well fresh and I hope he'll be bang there.

Henry de Bromhead, trainer of Envoi Allen
He's in great form and we're delighted with him. He's been working very well and I think his run at Down Royal shows he's every bit as he was coming into the race last year.

Richard Hobson, trainer of Fugitif
He’s in terrific order – I ride him everyday so I know. I’ve been really pleased with his prep and he ran a brilliant race last time over a totally inadequate trip as I used the race to help bring him forward rather than having him carry top weight in a handicap. There are no hiding places at this level and we’ve got to take on the Irish horses, but I’m only really worried about Stage Star if he returns to form. I’m really looking forward to running him.

Jamie Snowden, trainer of Ga Law
He was fifth in this last year but he's been in far better form this time. Last year he came into it off a fall, but comes into it this time after winning a handicap here off a mark of 150. That was a serious performance and we know he likes the track. He has good each-way claims.

Dan Skelton, trainer of Protektorat
He's kept his form well this season and we know he's not up to the Gold Cup standard anymore, but this is a good race for him. We'll be able to ride him positively and he's got good course form in the past. The ground and trip are no issues and he's got a lot of ticks in boxes.
Reporting by Peter Scargill

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