Envoi Allen in 'mighty form' ahead of Ryanair Chase defence, says trainer Henry de Bromhead

Henry de Bromhead is confident the lack of a recent run will not harm Envoi Allen's chances of becoming the third horse to claim back-to-back wins in the Ryanair Chase.

Albertas Run did the double for Jonjo O'Neill in 2010 and 2011, while Allaho struck twice for Willie Mullins in 2021 and 2022.

De Bromhead can take heart from the fact the former was a 10-year-old when successfully defending his title and there is also a link to the latter, who carried the same Cheveley Park Stud colours as Envoi Allen.

Last year, Envoi Allen kept on well to see off Shishkin in this race, which made it three Cheltenham Festival victories following the 2019 Champion Bumper and 12 months later prevailing in what is now known as the Gallagher Novices' Hurdle.

He has only had a couple of outings this term, the most recent a neck second to Gerri Colombe at Down Royal back in mid-November. But De Bromhead has no fears of that proving a negative factor.

"He seems in mighty form, we're happy with him, so fingers crossed," said the County Waterford handler.
"I'm not at all worried that he hasn't run since Down Royal; he's fit and well, he's worked well and he runs well fresh."

Stage Star is another proven Cheltenham performer, galloping on strongly to score in the Turners Novices' Chase at last year's Festival and winning for the third time at Prestbury Park when surviving a final-fence blunder in November's Paddy Power Gold Cup.

The eight-year-old blotted his copybook when pulled up here on New Year's Day but Paul Nicholls is happy to write that off as simply a blip on what was bottomless ground.

"If he hadn't run last time, I'd say he'd probably be favourite for the Ryanair," said the Ditcheat handler. "We're very happy he's back where he is, he needs a