Can Henry de Bromhead do the treble again at Cheltenham?

As the Cheltenham Festival draws ever closer, the pressure is amping up on trainer Henry de Bromhead, especially given how well the Irishman performed last year-round. It was a dream come true for the stables in County Waterford, picking up the Cheltenham treble of Champion Hurdle, Champion Chase and Gold Cup.

In the space of 96 hours, De Bromhead etched his name into the history books, something he was extremely proud of, saying: “It is incredible to think it. I’ve been coming here plenty of years with plenty of tough results but also some great ones.

“As I say though everyone who is working with us home and the crew here I couldn’t do it without them and the clients that give us the opportunity to buy these good horses. I just feel extremely lucky.”

Heading into this year’s Festival, it will be interesting to see if he can replicate those results. Read on, as we look at the big three De Bromhead will have his eyes on and the horses that give him the best chance of retaining the crown.

Champion Hurdle – Honeysuckle

At this point you run out good things to say about the mercurial Honeysuckle. She heads into Cheltenham on the back of another win in the Irish Champion Hurdle, making it 14 consecutive victories and maintaining a flawless record with the brilliant Rachael Blackmore. She’ll certainly take some beating and having a mare with that kind of reputation certainly makes De Bromhead a favourite in the latest horse racing odds.

Honeysuckle has beaten everyone in her path so far and even in a competitive line-up for this year’s Champion Hurdle, with the likes of Appreciate it and Nicky Henderson-trained Epatante expected to be in attendance, we still fail to see anyone stopping her given that impressive run of results.

Champion Chase – Envoi Allen

Just 24 hours after securing victory with Honeysuckle, De Bromhead made it a double with Put The Kettle On in the Champion Chase, and while you’d assume that would make him favourite for this year’s race, many believe his best chance lies in Envoi Allen. While some disappointing form from Put The Kettle On, including last place in the Mares Chase, Envoi Allen has looked much more steady, winning two of his three races since pulling up at Punchestown in the Champion Novice Chase. It will certainly take some doing to stop Shishkin, but given Cheltenham’s unpredictability, it is definitely not objectively impossible.

Gold Cup – A Plus Tard

As we move onto the showpiece event, the Gold Cup, the pressure is certainly on A Plus Tard to get the job done after narrowly missing out to fellow De Bromhead-trained Minella Indo. While the latter has struggled in recent races, finishing as a runner up in the Irish Gold Cup and failing to even get on the podium thanks to 28/1 outsider Tornado Flyer in the King George VI Chase, A Plus Tard recorded a win at Haydock before finishing runner up himself at Leopardstown to Galvin.

Gordon Elliot’s eight-year-old is certainly proving to be a thorn in De Bromhead’s side, and could well stand in the way of another clean sweep.  It’s too close to call at the moment though, and with the form guide essentially tossed out the window when it comes to Cheltenham anyway, all the talking will have to be done on the track as far as this year’s Gold Cup is concerned.