'We've got a few nice horses in the Champion Bumper' - Gordon Elliott looking forward to Punchestown Speaking to BOYLE Sports, leading Irish trainer Gordon Elliott has revealed he believes he has “no chance” of keeping Willie Mullins at bay in the race to be Irish Champion Trainer this season. The Cullentra handler also revealed his plans for the Punchestown Festival, where Aintree Hurdle winner Brighterdaysahead won’t be taking on Lossiemouth in the Champion Hurdle. We’ve had a great season but there is no chance we are beating Willie Mullins in the race to be Champion Trainer in Ireland 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. Willie Mullins sets the standard - I’m both lucky and unlucky to be training in the same era as one of the greatest of all time 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! Punchestown is a great meeting and we’ll have plenty of runners heading there Look, we've got plenty of horses to run, to be honest, I'm not even thinking about it. We've had 11 Grade winners this season. We've had a brilliant season as far as prize money goes. I've said it all along that I thought we weren't far enough in front to win and didn’t have enough in hand. So, I'm not even thinking about it, to be honest. I won't be approaching it any other way. I’d imagine we will have eight to 10 runners every day, so plenty of runners. It's a great meeting which we really enjoy, and we love to support it. I do still dream of being Champion Trainer - hopefully it’ll happen one day but I am relaxed 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. We have had a couple of tough years at Cheltenham but we’re happy with where we are the moment 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. 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 the way things have gone again this season. A lot of hard work and a good team of staff, owners and everyone around me. Constitution Hill is a superstar of a horse - Nicky Henderson is doing a wonderful job with him To be honest, I worry about my own horses! I have no big opinion on Constitution Hill. I think he's a superstar of a horse. Nicky Henderson is doing a wonderful job on him. I don't want to get into that whole saga to be honest. A horse from the yard that has big potential next season Charismatic Kid is one who looked very good in the Bumper at Fairyhouse and one we’re going to be looking forward to next year. I’m very lucky to have Jack Kennedy as part of my team He's very mentally strong and he's a wonderful jockey and a wonderful sportsman. He's a big part of my team and I'm very lucky to have him. Gordon Elliott previews his big-race runners at Punchestown El Cairos Jack Kennedy said he is one of the fastest horses he’s ever ridden. He’s a good horse, though. The Supreme [at Cheltenham] was a very funny race, none of the Irish horses seemed to be able to get into it for whatever reason. He's in good form. He's coming here fresh, so we’re looking forward to running him. Koktail Brut A nine-length winner at Fairyhouse since Cheltenham, he is a horse that keeps going the right way and keeps winning. He’s going to be a gorgeous chasing horse next year so we're looking forward to running both of them in the two mile race, the first day. Kala Conti She has beaten Kargese, who won the Arkle. She looked like she wasn’t going to be far away at Aintree. Whether she runs or not, we're not just sure. She seems in good form at home, so we'll see how she is this week and make our mind up. Teahupoo and Honesty Policy They are both in good form. So, both of them run. Brighterdaysahead She won't run. She's finished for the year. Wodhooh She's in very good form and I’m really looking forward to running her. She's a superstar. Other runners to look out for in the yard We've got a few nice horses in the Champion Bumper. We've got Low Kick and Soul Asylum. We’ll have loads of runners, to be honest. So, you hope they go well. Elliott was speaking to BOYLE Sports, who offer the latest Punchestown Festival betting
