Top Irish trainer Gordon Elliott speaks exclusively to BOYLE Sports about the race for the Irish Champion Trainer title.
Elliott opens up on his admiration for Willie Mullins , the highs of a brilliant season, and what it means to train in the same era as one of the all-time greats.
He also reflects on rebuilding after difficult years at Cheltenham , the loyalty of his team, and whether the dream of a Champion Trainer title is alive.
Irish Champion Trainer
"No Chance We Beat Wille Mullins"
No, I think we've no chance. I've said this for the last few months. The ammunition Willie has makes it very difficult. He is very, very strong and really comes into his own this time of year. We've had a great season, and we're very happy with where we are.
Greatest of All Time
Willie Mullins Sets The Standard
We have a great bunch of horses and a great yard. We've had a wonderful season, as we have for the last 10 or 12 seasons, really. But unfortunately, there's a man called Willie Mullins who is phenomenal at what he does.
Willie sets the standard, and I think I've been second to him in the championship for many years, as I've said. Four or five years ago, I was taking it a lot harder than I am now. I've just got to realise that I'm probably both lucky and unlucky to be training in the same era as one of the greatest trainers of all time.
Hopefully, our turn will come. So, let's keep doing what we do and hopefully someday we'll get there. I'm going nowhere!
My Dream
Hopefully I Win Champion Trainer Someday
I am relaxed. There is no point in being anything else. We're in a great position. This will be our 14th year being second to Willie . So, I'm in a very, very lucky position. I'm trying to look at things a bit differently, looking at races further down the line with horses and taking a more long-term approach. You have to look at the bigger picture.
Is it something I dream about, being Champion Trainer ? Yes, it is, and hopefully it'll happen someday.
Rebuilding & Restocking
Overcoming Challenges
Very happy. We've had a couple of tough years, we've been trying to rebuild. Obviously, when we lost those horses before, it takes a good while to get that core of runners back, but we've had a brilliant season again. As I said, we're restocking. We're trying to get back where we want to be.
There's plenty of young stock here, and you're hoping that as they progress, they'll be able to hold their own in the senior ranks. The dream is for them to continue on an upward trajectory and be able to hold their own at that top level.
We've got a massive team behind us, and a lot of hard work goes into it. We're delighted with the way things have gone again this season. A lot of hard work and a good team of staff, owners and everyone around me.
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