Three emerging stars for Gordon Elliott: 'He was purchased for £205,000' Gordon Elliott has restocked his yard with promising young horses in order to build a serious challenge to Willie Mullins’ dominance in the next few years and he has plenty of horses to watch. With several good winners already this season, the future looks bright for the Elliott yard. Here we take a look at three of his most promising talents who could be stars of the future. These include impressive Drinmore winner Romeo Coolio, who has taken very well to fences and could be going to the very top. Romeo Coolio This horse immediately looked like a smart prospect and was very useful in the bumper sphere, finishing second in the Champion Bumper at Cheltenham. Things didn’t go to plan at Punchestown after that but he bolted up at Down Royal on his first start over hurdles. He suffered a surprise defeat at the hands of Willie Mullins’ Tounsivator after that, but bounced right back to bolt up in a Grade 1 at Leopardstown over Christmas. Two very respectable placed efforts at Cheltenham and Aintree then followed. Fences were expected to help him to reach his potential and connections have been proven right so far. Romeo Coolio could hardly have been more impressive when getting the better of Koktail Divin on his chasing debut at Down Royal in October. There was still more to come as he returned to Grade 1 company with a dominant display in the Drinmore at Fairyhouse last time out and he left an excellent impression. The two-mile novice chase division looks red-hot this year and Romeo Coolio is a leading contender for the Arkle in March. Koktail Brut Elliott kept Koktail Brut very busy last season and he had five starts in bumpers. He got off the mark on his first start under rules at Fairyhouse in December and a couple of subsequent winners have come out of the race. Fourth in a Grade 2 at the Dublin Racing Festival a couple of starts later, he then finished third in the same grade at Aintree in the spring. Colcannon beat him at Leopardstown, but Elliott’s gelding reversed the form easily in a maiden hurdle at Punchestown last month. The son of Cokoriko was well supported in the Royal Bond at Fairyhouse a couple of weeks ago and he showed a good attitude to hold off Noel Meade’s Blake. There’s scope for further improvement and it’ll be interesting to see how far the five-year-old can go. Skerry Hill Impressive Farmaclaffley point-to-point winner Skerry Hill was purchased for £205,000 off the back of that success and he’s related to a couple of winners. Making his first start under rules in a Down Royal Bumper in October, he did well to win comfortably in the end. Elliott’s gelding showed signs of greenness and that experience won’t be lost on him. That being said, the penny began to drop in the closing stages and he pulled clearly nicely to score by three-and-a-quarter lengths. It’s likely that there’s loads more to come from him and he will be seen to best effect over hurdles and fences in the future. Clearly he possesses a sizeable engine and he may even be one to consider for the Champion Bumper if connections take that route.
