{"id":294914,"date":"2023-11-11T23:26:27","date_gmt":"2023-11-11T23:26:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/?p=294914"},"modified":"2023-11-11T23:26:27","modified_gmt":"2023-11-11T23:26:27","slug":"gordon-elliott-nervous-as-gerri-colombe-starts-on-gold-cup-trail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/horse-racing\/gordon-elliott-nervous-as-gerri-colombe-starts-on-gold-cup-trail\/","title":{"rendered":"Gordon Elliott &apos;nervous&apos; as Gerri Colombe starts on Gold Cup trail"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Gordon Elliott is &#8216;nervous but looking forward to&#8217; Gerri Colombe starting on the Cheltenham Gold Cup trail in the Ladbrokes Champion Chase<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Gerri Colombe starts on the Gold Cup trail at the\u00a0Ladbrokes Champion Chase<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Gordon Elliott has big hopes but admits he is also &#8216;nervous&#8217; with anticipation\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Meanwhile, Paul Nicholls backs Stay Away Fay to go on to Gold Cup victory\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Gordon Elliott has been waiting for this moment for seven months: Gerri Colombe, the apple of his trainer\u2019s eye, returns to action on Saturday in what connections hope will be the first step on the road to winning the Cheltenham Gold Cup.<\/p>\n<p>Gerri Colombe is second-favourite for the National Hunt\u2019s premier event, having made beautiful progress last winter. He won Grade One chases at Limerick, Sandown and, most recently, Aintree in April when he really showed his swaggering talent.<\/p>\n<p>Elliott\u2019s stable are in red-hot form. He had six winners in seven races at Down Royal on Friday \u2014 but he would swap them all for Gerri Colombe obliging at the same track on Saturday in the rescheduled Ladbrokes Champion Chase (2.20). It was supposed to be run last weekend but waterlogging forced a reshuffle.<\/p>\n<p>Henry de Bromhead saddles Envoi Allen and Minella Indo, while Elliott also relies on Conflated. It is a small but classy field yet the suspicion is Gerri Colombe will be a cut above. \u2018The two of them are in great form and Gerri is going to come on for the run,\u2019 said Elliott.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Henry\u2019s horses have both had a run but Gerri is a good horse. I know there is going to be improvement in Gerri. March is the plan and three miles, two furlongs around there is what is going to suit him.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/10\/21\/77668385-0-image-a-33_1699652509933.jpg\" height=\"422\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Gordon Elliott admits he is &#8216;nervous&#8217; as Gerri Colombe prepares to start on the Gold Cup trail<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/10\/21\/77668573-0-image-a-34_1699653045825.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Gerri Colombe (pictured being ridden by Davy Russell) is second-favourite for the\u00a0National Hunt\u2019s premier event<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/10\/21\/77668613-0-image-a-35_1699653124435.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Elliott&#8217;s Gerri Colombe won\u00a0Grade One chases at Limerick, Sandown, and Aintree<\/p>\n<p>\u2018He isn\u2019t a quick horse and he doesn\u2019t do anything fancy at home but I\u2019m looking forward to this. I\u2019m nervous but looking forward to it.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>If Elliott is dreaming of next March, Paul Nicholls is already working back from the 2025 Cheltenham Gold Cup after Stay Away Fay made an impressive first appearance over fences at Exeter on Friday. His trainer has big plans in the pipeline.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018You\u2019d like to think ultimately he\u2019ll end up a Gold Cup horse,\u2019 said Nicholls, ahead of what will be a huge day for him at Wincanton on Saturday. \u2018That\u2019s what we like to think and the owners dream of. It\u2019s a long way up that ladder but he\u2019s put his foot on the first step.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018There\u2019s lots of improvement to come, but it\u2019s a super first start of the season. He\u2019s not done loads and I think there\u2019s loads to come from him.\u2019<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/10\/21\/77668737-12736209-image-a-44_1699653427625.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Paul Nicholls has big hopes for his horse Stay Away Fay and said:\u00a0\u2018You\u2019d like to think ultimately he\u2019ll end up a Gold Cup horse&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/racing\/article-12736209\/Gordon-Elliott-nervous-looking-forward-Gerri-Colombe-starting-Cheltenham-Gold-Cup-trail-Ladbrokes-Champion-Chase.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Gordon Elliott is &#8216;nervous but looking forward to&#8217; Gerri Colombe starting on the Cheltenham Gold Cup trail in the Ladbrokes Champion Chase Gerri Colombe starts <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/horse-racing\/gordon-elliott-nervous-as-gerri-colombe-starts-on-gold-cup-trail\/\" title=\"Gordon Elliott &amp;apos;nervous&amp;apos; as Gerri Colombe starts on Gold Cup trail\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":294913,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Gordon Elliott &amp;apos;nervous&amp;apos; as Gerri Colombe starts on Gold Cup trail - Sportstoft<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/horse-racing\/gordon-elliott-nervous-as-gerri-colombe-starts-on-gold-cup-trail\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gordon Elliott &amp;apos;nervous&amp;apos; as Gerri Colombe starts on Gold Cup trail - Sportstoft\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Gordon Elliott is &#8216;nervous but looking forward to&#8217; 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