Gordon Elliott began his racing career as a teenager, working for Tony Martin at weekends and during school holidays. Having taken out his amateur rider’s license at the age of 16, he went on to be a prolific rider both in the point-to-point field and on the racecourse. He rode a total of 46 winners on the racecourse, with the highlight being his win in the Punchestown Champion Bumper on the Nigel Twiston-Davies-trained King’s Road in 1998. Having hung up his riding boots at the end of 2005, he began to concentrate on his new career as a trainer.
Principal Jockeys:Paul Carberry, Jason Maguire, Keith Donoghue
Notable Wins:
- Totesport Ebor (Dirar 2010)
- Inforthenight.ie Juvenile Hurdle (Carlito Brigante 2009)
- freebets.co.uk Handicap Chase (Backstage 2009)
- Ladbrokes Gold Rush Handicap Hurdle (Grand Opera 2009)
- Irish Rover Bar New York Juvenile 3-Y-O Hurdle (Tharawaat 2008)
- Killerk Construction Tipperary Hurdle (Salford City 2007)
- Aintree Grand National (Silver Birch 2007)
Early Days
Uniquely, Elliott had his first ever runner as a trainer at no less than the Cheltenham Festival, saddling Brandon Mountain to run in the Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle. While that horse didn’t fare very well on that occasion, the following summer would see him successfully return to England on a number of occasions, with Arresting winning on no less than three occasions at Perth (twice) and Newton Abbot. While he failed to add to that tally through the following autumn and winter, a Paul Nicholls cast-off by the name of Silver Birch was showing notable promise in defeat, finishing second in the Sporting Index Cross Country Handicap Chase at the Cheltenham Festival.
Aintree Glory
Then a 10-year-old, Silver Birch had won the Becher Chase and the Welsh National for Paul Nicholls before succumbing to injury and being sold. Elliott nursed him back to fitness and having finished second at Cheltenham, all roads led to the Aintree Grand National. Sent off at 33/1, Silver Birch profited from a positive Robbie Power ride, leading at the last and keeping on strongly to prevail by ¾-length. The win prompted rapturous scenes of celebration, with many of the British media scrambling to find out just who the rookie trainer of the winner was. Remarkably, at the time of that win, Elliott had still not trained a winner in Ireland. However, with that win making him a household name, that situation was not long in changing.
Climbing The Ladder
Three weeks later, that elusive first win in Ireland arrived when Toran Road won a handicap chase at Kilbeggan. Things very much took off for him in Ireland after that, with Salford City winning three times over hurdles (including the Grade 2 Tipperary Hurdle) and Newtown Bridge winning four races in total (including a handicap hurdle at the November meeting at Cheltenham) in the months that followed, amongst a number of other wins. He continued to make successful raids across the Irish Sea, winning races at Uttoxeter and Musselburgh as well as gaining a notable win with Harper Valley in a juvenile novice hurdle at Cheltenham in December.
While 2008 started slowly for Elliott, it turned out to be an immensely successful year for him. He got off the mark for the year when sending out Harper Valley to win a handicap at Dundalk in late-March, but things didn’t well and truly take off for him until May, saddling seven winners in the space of a fortnight early that month including Salford City’s winning chasing debut at Cork. He continued to make waves in Britain, particularly at Perth, saddling a notable double there on June 1st, three winners in the space of two days there a month later and three more doubles there over the course of the remainder of the month. Back on the domestic scene, Elliott saddled a double at the unique meeting on the beach at Laytown in early-September before once again claiming a double back at Perth later that month. Mid-October saw him turn his attentions to Wetherby, saddling yet another double there.
Perhaps the most memorable victory of the entire year for Elliott came in a handicap chase at the November meeting at Cheltenham. Represented by Hoopy, who was ridden by Jason McKeown, the six-year-old blundered at the fifth fence which resulted in McKeown losing his whip. Still in with an outside chance before three out, McKeown “borrowed” a weakening rival’s whip and his mount responded gamely to a few cracks, leading on the run-in to prevail by 3½ lengths. Elliott and McKeown had to survive an objection lodged by the connections of the runner-up, but the result was allowed to stand.
Graded Success
Later that month Elliott saddled the Gigginstown Stud-owned Tharawaat to win a juvenile maiden hurdle at Navan and just a week later he turned out the son of Alhaarth again to win the Grade 3 Irish Rover Bar New York Juvenile 3-Y-O Hurdle at Fairyhouse. Four weeks later, he found just Lethal Weapon too good in the Grade 1 Durkan New Homes Juvenile Hurdle at Leopardstown. While he failed to add to his Graded tally for the remainder of the year, Elliott continued to saddle abundant winners at both sides of the Irish Sea. The yard was in particularly good form with its British raiders in July, sending out 14 winners from just 30 runners. The following month saw him saddle a number of valuable winners, with Grand Opera winning the Ladbrokes Gold Rush Handicap Hurdle at Killarney and Backstage winning the freebets.co.uk Handicap Chase at Ffos Las. As had now become the norm, Elliott began to concentrate on the domestic scene as the winter months commenced and once again it was a juvenile hurdler that proved to be the star of the show, with Carlito Brigante winning the Grade 2 Inforthenight.ie Juvenile Hurdle at Leopardstown’s Christmas meeting before going on to finish in the frame in the Grade 1 juvenile contests at the Cheltenham and Punchestown Festivals.
Another Lucrative Summer
As the Irish National Hunt season wound up, Elliott once again turned his attentions to Britain, saddling a multitude on winners at his usual haunt of Perth amongst others. He also did notably well on the domestic front during the summer months. However, the highlight of his summer campaign came courtesy of a rare runner on the Flat, with him sending out Dirar to win Britain’s most valuable handicap, the Totesport Ebor. It was a notable win for Elliott that once again brought him to international attention and showcased his versatility as a trainer.
With the National Hunt season just about getting into full swing, Elliott is preparing to unleash his winter team onto the domestic front and another lucrative campaign looks sure to be forthcoming for this fast-rising trainer.
Updated September 2010.
