Cormier to seek £100,000 Cheltenham bonus after Morebattle win at Kelso; Windsor Avenue out of Grand National – Brian Ellison updates

BRIAN ELLISON hopes there’s more improvement to come from Cormier after confirming that the dual purpose horse will attempt to land a £100,000 bonus at next week’s Cheltenham Festival.
This was Cormier and Jonathan Burke (red cap) winning at Cheltenham at the end of January - the horse will land a £100,000 bonus if he wins the County Hurdle at this month's National Hunt Festival.This was Cormier and Jonathan Burke (red cap) winning at Cheltenham at the end of January - the horse will land a £100,000 bonus if he wins the County Hurdle at this month's National Hunt Festival.
This was Cormier and Jonathan Burke (red cap) winning at Cheltenham at the end of January - the horse will land a £100,000 bonus if he wins the County Hurdle at this month's National Hunt Festival.

The six-figure incentive is open to any horse that wins the bet365 Morebattle Hurdle – Kelso’s most valuable race of the year – and then any contest at Cheltenham.

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It was landed 12 months ago by The Shunter who took the Morebattle for Irish trainer Emmett Mullins and owner JP McManus before storming to victory in the Paddy Power Plate Handicap Chase at the National Hunt Festival.

Trainer Brian Ellison.Trainer Brian Ellison.
Trainer Brian Ellison.

And Kelso’s decision to turn the Morebattle Hurdle, previously a graded contest that attracted just a handful of runners, into a competitive handicap that formed the centrepiece of ITV Racing’s coverage from the Borders track.

Eleven runners – including dual Champion Hurdle winner Buveur D’Air – went to post in a race that, regrettably, saw the hurdles bypassed in the home straight on safety grounds due to the low sun.

Yet Ellison believes the omission of four flights in total made no difference to the outcome – had the hurdles been in place, he says, it would have enabled in-form jockey Sean Quinlan, to ride more conservatively before hitting the front.

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Owned by Dan Gilbert who lives by Cheltenham, Cormier is now a leading contender for the County Hurdle on Friday week – Gold Cup day.

This was Cormier and Jonathan Burke (red cap) winning at Cheltenham at the end of January - the horse will land a £100,000 bonus if he wins the County Hurdle at this month's National Hunt Festival.This was Cormier and Jonathan Burke (red cap) winning at Cheltenham at the end of January - the horse will land a £100,000 bonus if he wins the County Hurdle at this month's National Hunt Festival.
This was Cormier and Jonathan Burke (red cap) winning at Cheltenham at the end of January - the horse will land a £100,000 bonus if he wins the County Hurdle at this month's National Hunt Festival.

But the six-year-old does have a touch of class – he won on the Flat at Pontefract and York last summer – before winning a hurdle at Cheltenham’s Festival Trials meeting at the end of January under Jonathan Burke.

And victory would provide Malton-based Ellison with a long-overdue first Festival victory – twice the luckless Latalomne was leading the Queen mother Champion Chase before coming to grief at the downhill fence before the home bend.

“He’s only 12-1 for the County Hurdle – I think he’s a lot more relaxed in his races,” Ellison told The Yorkshire Post yesterday. “Last year he was keen and we were dropping him out far too far. You can switch him off now. He’s just improved with racing and is a lot more grown up than he used to be.

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“Sean said he was off the bit early on today they were going that quick, then he’s just come hard on it at the top bend. If anything he got there too early. Taking the hurdles in the straight out didn’t bother him as he’s won a few races on the Flat.”

Ellison is also realistic about the horse’s Cheltenham chances – but says connections have nothing to lose after landing the Morebattle that carried a prize fund of £100,000 and over £50,000 to the winner.

“You’ve got to go for it. It’s a £100,000 bonus. He’s won round there (Cheltenham) and handles the track, but you want some luck in running and keep out of trouble. He’s battle-hardened, though,” he said.

Ellison, however, was disappointed with the laboured run of Windsor Avenue in the bet365 Premier Chase and says the horse will not be lining up in net month’s Randox Grand National at Aintree.

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The trainer believes the soft conditions at Kelso took its toll on a horse still recovering from the gruelling effort that it took to win Doncaster’s Sky Bet Chase at the end of January.

Significantly, Sky Bet runner-up Storm Control failed to fire for the Kerry Lee team in Doncaster’s Grimthorpe Chase on Saturday won by Undersupervision for Nigel and Sam Twiston-Davies. “He (Windsor Avenue) runs keenly – too keen for a Grand National,” added Ellison. “We might go for the Scottish National.”

The Premier Chase went to the vetera Nuts Well for Nurthumberland farmers Ann and Ian Hamilton whose Tommy’s Oscar is a leading British hope in the Unibet Champion Hurdle – Cheltenham’s day one highlight.

Nuts Well was given a masterful ride by champion jockey-elect Brian Hughes, deputising for the injury-sidelined Danny McMenamin, as Northern yards won all seven races on Kelso’s most valuable raceday.

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Hill Sixteen challenged on the approach to the final fence, but the Hamiltons’ veteran dug deep on the run to the line to prevail by a length.

“I quietly thought he had a right chance if he stayed three miles,” said Ian Hamilton. “Brian is just magic, isn’t he? He said he was going to sit at the back and let them go and just creep into it - well he just cruised there, didn’t he?

On Tommy’s Oscar’s chances in the Champion Hurdle, he added: “That’s a bit of different craic! He hasn’t beaten a Champion Hurdle horse yet. You wouldn’t know what will happen - that’s what we’re going for.”

Meanwhile trainer Rebecca Menzies and jockey Nathan Moscrop recorded their biggest NH success to date when Fonzerelli took the Listed Mares’ Novices Hurdle at Doncaster.

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