Gordon Elliott will not allow Jack Kennedy to have a reunion with Gold Cup winner Minella Indo this weekend, with the Kerry native forced to step aside in order to ride Delta Work at Down Royal instead.
Kennedy captured the big prize at Cheltenham on board the eight-year old earlier this year, with trainer Henry de Bromhead saying he hoped to reunite the pair in the Ladbrokes Champion Chase on Saturday.
Gordon Elliott won't allow Jack Kennedy's Gold Cup reunion
However, with Kennedy operating out of the Gordon Elliott stable, the Irish trainer has insisted that he instead saddle Delta Work in the race. He will also stop Davy Russell from linking up with Envoi Allen for a similar reason.
This is what the Meath man had to say on the matter (h/t Racing Post):
I have my own jockeys. They are either riding for me or they aren’t. I have my own owners to keep happy and my owners wanted my jockeys to ride their horses so that’s the way it is.
I want to see my jockeys ride good horses but I have runners in the same races. If my owners want my jockeys, there’s nothing I can do.
It’s hard for Jack having to get off a Gold Cup winner but he rides a lot of our horses here and we’re hoping that Delta Work is our Gold Cup horse.
The horse will now instead be jockeyed by Rachael Blackmore.
This came after Henry De Bromhead revealed that he had only just learned that Russell would not be riding Envoi Allen in the race.
Davy rang me yesterday to tell me he’s not allowed to ride Envoi Allen. I’m not sure why that is.
Gordon Elliott is a four-time winner in this race, with his most recent victory coming via The Storyteller in 2020.
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