Gordon Elliott

Henry de Bromhead celebrated his two Grade 1 winners at Cheltenham this week by adding the top lot of the Tattersalls Cheltenham Festival Sale to his string.  The daughter of Pour Moi (Ire), named Kudasheva (Ire), was an eye-catching winner on debut in a point-to-point in Ireland on March 6 and brought a final bid of £370,000. Offered as lot 18 by Pat Doyle's Suirview Stables, the 4-year-old is out of a Hernando (Ire) half-sister to Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Don Cossack (Ger) (Sholokhov {Ire}). Gordon Elliott will take charge...

CHELTENHAM, UK--It is a rare moment when a beaten horse elicits a more rousing reception than a winner, but then Tiger Roll (Ire) (Authorized {Ire}) is the rarest of beasts. An enigma sometimes, but scintillating on his many days in the sun, he retires a proper champion of a horse after giving his all for one final run in relentless rain.  Nobody could claim that the Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase is a championship race - in fact there are those who call for its exclusion from the Festival - but...

Point-to-pointers proved popular during the one-day Goffs UK Autumn Sale on Thursday, with trade topped by Music Drive (Fr) (Muhtathir {GB}) (lot 129). Offered by Colin Bowe's Milestone Stables, the 4-year-old Music Drive won a point-to-point at Monksgrange on Sept. 26, and was picked up by Aidan O'Ryan and Gordon Elliott for £90,000. At the close of trade, 113 horses sold (66%) from 170 offered for an aggregate of £1,014,800 that was up 29% on last year. The average jumped 83% to £8,981, while the median climbed 67% to £5,000....

American Mike (Ire) (Mahler {GB}) (lot 8), the 20-length winner of a maiden point-to-point at Cork on Apr. 10, topped the Tattersalls Cheltenham April Sale relocated to Newmarket on Friday when selling to Bective Stud and Gordon Elliott for £195,000. Elliott, who is currently serving a six-month ban from training after a photo of him sitting astride a dead horse surfaced on social media in March, signed alone or in partnership for three of the top four lots at the sale. American Mike was sold by Monbeg Stables, and Elliott...

Simon McGonagle, head lad to currently disqualified trainer Gordon Elliott, has been banned nine months, with the last seven months of the ban suspended, by the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board for taking the photo of Elliott sitting aboard a dead horse that circulated on social media and led to Elliott's own six-month ban. The last seven months of McGonagle's ban will be suspended for a year, after which the disqualification will lapse. McGonagle's ban begins on Apr. 16. McGonagle, who has been employed within the racing industry for approximately 30...

British Horseracing Authority Chief Executive Julie Harrington said in a Zoom call with members of the media on Wednesday that she does not anticipate barriers to runners trained by Denise "Sneezy" Foster competing at Cheltenham next week, but that British racing's governing body is seeking clarification from the Irish Horse Racing Board on the conditions of Foster's license. The day after it was announced last week that leading Irish National Hunt trainer Gordon Elliott was banned for a year-with the second half of the ban suspended-after a photo surfaced of...

Trainer Denise Foster will take over the license at Gordon Elliott's Cullentra Stables while Elliott serves a six-month ban handed down by the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board on Friday after a disturbing photo surfaced last weekend on social media of Elliott sitting astride a dead horse in his care. The news of Foster's takeover was first reported by the Irish Field, with Racing Post later confirming the appointment with Foster. Elliott was on Friday given a 12-month ban, with the last six months suspended, and an order to pay €15,000...

Irish National Hunt trainer Gordon Elliott has said that he is "paying a very heavy price" but that he has no complaints after being handed a 12-month suspension by the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB), with the last six months of the ban suspended. While it has been announced that the latter second half of the ban has been suspended, it has yet to be announced for how long that suspension would apply and what level of offence would cause it to be triggered. Elliott has not been fined but...

With over 2,000 wins and dozens of graded stakes scores on his resume, Mike Stidham has well established himself as a top trainer in this business. But as of yet, his stable hasn't quite found its breakout star--one that can take him to Breeders' Cup glory and maybe even an Eclipse Award or two. That may have changed with the arrival of Mystic Guide (Ghostzapper) in Stidham's barn two years ago, as the Godolphin blueblood has steadily developed into a budding star, fresh off a jaw-dropping victory in the GIII...

Richard Thompson of Cheveley Park Stud has confirmed that the operation will be removing eight horses from the stable of Gordon Elliott, who is currently under investigation by the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) following the publication of a disturbing photograph of the trainer sitting astride a dead horse. Envoi Allen (Fr) (Muhtathir {GB}), unbeaten in 11 races and widely regarded as the best novice chaser in training, will switch to the stable of Henry de Bromhead, who already trains the Grade 1-winning chaser A Plus Tard (Fr) (Kapgrade {Fr})...

When the news came last week that award-winning racing journalist Chris Cook was moving on from The Guardian as the newspaper continued to reduce its staff, thoughts turned to a comment piece on how horseracing coverage in the mainstream media is continuing to slide. Come Monday morning, however, racing was all over the national news in Britain and Ireland, and not in a good way.  The distressing photograph of one of Ireland's leading National Hunt trainers apparently astride a dead horse had been widely circulated on Saturday evening and, like...

As the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) investigates the case of the photograph of Gordon Elliott sitting astride a dead horse on his gallops, racing authorities in Ireland and Britain expressed their dismay at the distressing image.  A statement released by Horseracing Ireland on Monday afternoon read, "Horse Racing Ireland unreservedly condemns the disturbing photograph that appeared on social media at the weekend. "This image does not reflect the care, attention and respect that racehorses receive, and does a disservice to the thousands of people who look after their horses...