Redemption day for 'class horse' Envoi Allen in Ryanair as Shishkin's jumping lets him down

It was billed as redemption day for Shishkin but it was Envoi Allen whose career was firmly back on track with a third Cheltenham Festival success in the Ryanair Chase.

Erratic was the adjective used by Cheveley Park Stud director Richard Thompson to describe Envoi Allen’s form in recent years, with a two-year spell of inconsistency after an initial 11-11 record when in the care of Gordon Elliott.

Those wins included festival success in the Champion Bumper in 2019 and Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle in 2020, but his in-and-out form had continued this season, with a win in the Ladbrokes Champion Chase at Down Royal followed by a desperately disappointing seventh in the King George VI Chase at Kempton.

This was much more like it. The Henry de Bromhead-trained nine-year-old travelled so sweetly behind pacesetters Chacun Pour Soi and French Dynamite – possibly too well – with the eye constantly drawn to the red, white and blue silks sported by regular rider Rachael Blackmore.

After pecking at the third-last, the nine-year-old coasted into the lead approaching the penultimate fence, and when he was finally off the bridle heading to the last, the response was more than satisfactory. Shishkin stayed on up the hill – after a round of jumping littered with errors – to pip Hitman for second but Envoi Allen was never in danger.

Thompson, celebrating victory in the race for a third successive year after Allaho’s two wins, said: “We thought he’d run a decent race and maybe finish in the first three, but we didn’t expect him to win – that was incredible.

“He was the second coming a few years ago when he won the Bumper and Ballymore, so it’s fantastic to have him back winning the Ryanair.

“As the race developed I was starting to think he was in the shake-up. It was probably at the second-last I thought we had a chance. I still couldn’t quite believe it until he jumped the last and went away. It was a superb ride by Rachael. He has come back well.

“He’s been a bit erratic the last couple of years, so one had to be a bit cautious about him. It’s great to see him win.”

The jockey-trainer-owner combination will attempt back-to-back wins in the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup with A Plus Tard on Friday – a race which might have come into the reckoning, and may do in 12 months' time, for this eight-time top-level winner.

De Bromhead said: “We were so happy with him going to Kempton and he just never showed up, so it’s great to see him back today. He was in such good form at home coming into this and he’s put his best foot forward.

“He travelled so well through the race and he’s a class horse. We could work back from the Ryanair next year but we’ll see. He stays three miles and the Gold Cup is the race. If A Plus Tard wasn’t in it this year, this guy possibly would have run in it, so it might be an option next year.”

De Bromhead described the reception for his third winner of the meeting as “incredible” – adding “it’s blown us away” – and Blackmore let out a roar to the crowd as she entered the winner’s enclosure on the popular scorer.

“He was incredible and he’s extremely talented,” said Blackmore, who first won the race on Allaho in 2021. “We were hoping he had another day like this in him and he was electric. He travelled and jumped so well. I was expecting them to come on the outside at the second-last and last but they never came.

“He was a very good ride and it’s no surprise. He works really well at home and had loads of boxes ticked coming here. It’s fantastic that Henry got the day out of him today.

“It’s a great team effort down there in Knockeen and it’s been a tough year for everyone, but everyone in the yard is a properly good grafter and it’s great to be associated with them. I feel very lucky to be in the position I’m in to get to ride these horses.”

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