Gordon Elliott keen for Conflated to take chance in Gold Cup

Gordon Elliott is hoping he might get his way and persuade Michael O'Leary to run Conflated in the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup rather than the Ryanair Chase.

O'Leary stated on Sunday he expected the surprise Irish Gold Cup winner would drop back in trip at the Cheltenham Festival, in preference to trying him over three and a quarter miles against stablemate Galvin in the blue riband.

However, Elliott feels Allaho could be a tough nut to crack in the Ryanair and favours giving his charge a chance in what appears an open Gold Cup year.

He said: "(I'd go for) the Gold Cup. Michael wants to go for the Ryanair, I want to go for the Gold Cup so we'll probably have an argument for five minutes and normally he gets his way, but I hope I get mine.

"There's only one Gold Cup. If you win the Ryanair, that's grand, but the Gold Cup is the Gold Cup. I just think the way the Ryanair will be run, with the likes of Allaho in there, if he does make a mistake or miss a fence, he might not get back into the race. The Gold Cup, they might not go as quick early.

"It is a bit of a worry about the stamina, but it is a Gold Cup and there's a worry about the stamina of a lot of horses."

Conflated is a general 12-1 shot for the Gold Cup, with the Ronnie Bartlett-owned Galvin 4-1 second-favourite behind A Plus Tard for the Festival highlight.

"I didn't know where the line was, I was driving with my head down" - Davy Russell reacts to catching Rachael Blackmore and A Plus Tard with Galvin on the line in the Savills Chase | Watch the #Leopardstown Christmas Festival live on @RTE2 and @RTEPlayer pic.twitter.com/NkHTc91rmQ

Galvin has won two of his three starts this term, landing a Punchestown Grade Three on his seasonal bow before chasing home Frodon in the