Gordon Elliott was just 29 years old when he took out his trainer’s licence in 2006.
Less than 12 months later, he had saddled Silver Birch to win the 2007 Grand National at Aintree.
At that stage of his career, Elliott was just getting started but the County Meath-based trainer continued to elevate his reputation in the racing world.
The Cullentra House stable went from strength to strength and eventually, Elliott had built up a stable to rival that of the legendary Willie Mullins.
While he has yet to topple Mullins in the Irish Jumps Trainers Championship, Elliott has been crowned the leading trainer at the Cheltenham Festival on two occasions.
After Mullins, Elliott’s training operation is the next strongest in Ireland and his horses will be dominant once again at the major festivals in both Ireland and the UK.
Here are 10 Gordon Elliott horses from the stable we think you should follow for the duration of the 2024/25 season:
American Mike
Bective Stud originally spent £195,000 for eye-catching point-to-point winner American Mike at the sales and he has rewarded them with five victories already.
If he can brush up on his jumping then he can make giant strides this campaign.
Ash Tree Meadow
Ash Tree Meadow was very disappointing on his seasonal return at the start of October but I wouldn’t write him off this early.
I can see the eight-time scorer picking up the winning thread soon enough and he’s one to watch in the horse racing betting.
Firefox
If you check out Firefox’s form figures in your browser, you will find the six-year-old has never finished out of the top four places in any of his starts.
He ran some excellent races last season and we can expect much of the same this term.
Found A Fifty
Found A Fifty showed much-improved form over fences and had an excellent season, winning three of his six starts and finishing runner-up on the other three occasions.
He won in Grade 1 company at Leopardstown last Christmas and did so again at Aintree in April. This horse looks destined for the top.
Gerri Colombe
Undoubtedly the best chaser Elliott currently has in his stable, Gerri Colombe will be targeted at the Cheltenham Gold Cup again this year and you can check out his Cheltenham odds today.
He’s likely to pick up some other prizes along the way so has to be automatically included in any “to follow” list.
Jalon D'oudairies
Elliott’s Champion Bumper third has a bright future ahead of him and it will be interesting to see how he gets on over hurdles this time around. I suspect he’ll be a natural.
Minella Crooner
It’s sometimes difficult to work out which Minella Crooner you’re going to get on the day, but when the eight-year-old is good, he’s very good!
He’ll definitely pick up a few victories this season, but catching him right is the key.
Teahupoo
Teahupoo finished last season unbeaten and was the first horse to complete the Cheltenham-Punchestown double in the equivalent races this century.
The seven-year-old will be dining from the top table again this term I’m sure.
Wodhooh
The Sundowners Partnership had a ball with this four-year-old filly last season and they can do so again in 2024/25.
Formerly trained on the Flat by Sir Michael Stoute, Wodhooh is likely to be heading into more Listed events this year.
Zaynab
Gordon Elliott’s Zaynab made a positive start to her new career over jumps by landing a race at Listowel.
A half-sister to the classy Zanahiyr, Zaynab had won two of her four starts on the Flat this season and even ran in the Sandringham Stakes at Royal Ascot.
The daughter of Phoenix Of Spain was well fancied for the Charleville Cheese 3-Y-O Hurdle and quickened up nicely under Sam Ewing to score by four lengths.
She will be an interesting youngster to follow this season.
*Credit for the main photo belongs to Adobe*
