Eldorado Allen primed for Grand National challenge

PA Sport Staff
March 27, 2024 1:57 pm

Tizzard planning practice spin over Aintree-style fences.

Joe Tizzard’s Eldorado Allen will be one of just a handful of British horses flying the flag for the home side in the Randox Grand National at Aintree.

The grey has some solid form in staying chases to his name, winning the 2022 Denman Chase and finishing second in the Charlie Hall and the Betfair Chase during the same season before coming home fourth in the Coral Gold Cup earlier this term.

He reverted to hurdles for a sole outing in January and was last seen pulling up on heavy ground in the Ultima at the Cheltenham Festival.

Tizzard is therefore hoping conditions will be quicker in Liverpool come the National as he believes the gelding has become more comfortable on a firmer surface throughout his career.

“He is (an intended runner), he’s had a couple of poor runs and as he’s got older he wants better ground,” the trainer said.

Joe Tizzard and Eldorado Allen (David Davies/PA)

“I tweaked his wind after his hurdle run but if you go back to his Coral Gold Cup form where he was fourth, he ran a good race in that.

“He was staying on really well, he’s a horse that’s got a bit of class, he gets into a nice rhythm.

“I wouldn’t mind it drying out a bit, I don’t mind admitting I’d like a bit of decent soft ground for him.

“He’s got a chance of running a nice race, it’s no more than that and it’s a privilege to have a runner in these nice races.

“The horse has taken us to some special days out and there’s no reason why he couldn’t get into a nice rhythm and be bang there three out and get us all excited.”

Eldorado Allen winning the Denman Chase (Steven Paston/PA)

Eldorado Allen has run at Aintree several times but never around the Grand National course, so Tizzard will take him to David Pipe’s yard at Nicholashayne to school over National-type obstacles.

“I’m preparing him as normal in his work but I will take him down to Pipe’s and give him a pop over the fences,” he said.

“I couldn’t live with myself if we didn’t do it and he went and tipped over at the first or something like that, you’d question yourself, so we’ll go down and we’ll jump eight or 10 National fences and that’ll be it.”

Tizzard’s runner is likely to be one of the smallest ever British contingent to line up in the race, but the trainer is not overly concerned by the situation and does not expect it to be permanent.

“That is where we are at the moment, I don’t like to ever get too negative about this sort of stuff,” he said.

Eldorado Allen at the Cheltenham Festival in 2022 (Tim Goode/PA)

“It wasn’t that long ago that were was barely an Irish runner but that is how it’s gone, there are two Irish trainers with a lot of entries but that happens every day in Ireland.

“It’s how it is at the moment but things will change, there’s no point in English people entering horses that they don’t think are good enough or the right type for the race.

“I’m sure if we had the horses then the English trainers would be running them, as simple as that, you’ve only got to look at our result from Cheltenham this year and see there are two are three horses that will be in the Grand National next year and that will increase the numbers.”