GORDON Elliott could have some fun this season, sorting out his top staying novice chasers.

You have to do a double-take in order to be sure that Champagne Classic is still a novice, and that he will be so for the entire campaign, but he is and he will. Winner of the Grade 1 three-mile novices’ hurdle at the 2017 Punchestown Festival, he had a truncated time of it last season. He didn’t start off until January, he was only just beaten by Chris’s Dream in the Grade 2 Ten Up Chase on his second run of the season, and then a setback ruled him out for the rest of the term.

Season

The Gigginstown House horse is making up for lost time though. He is two for two this season so far, and he looked very good in beating Discorama in the Listed MW Hickey Memorial Chase at Wexford on Monday.

Battleoverdoyen looked very good too in winning the two-mile, six-furlong beginners’ chase at Galway on Monday, a race from which many a top staying chaser has sprung in the recent past.

He was one of the top novice hurdlers around last season, and you can easily put a line through his run in the Ballymore Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in March.

He is built for chasing, and he is one of the most exciting novice chasers in the country now.

Messy

Dallas Des Pictons got the job done in a messy race at Gowran Park three weeks ago, and Flawless Escape probably would have finished second to Champagne Classic at Fairyhouse had he not come down at the final fence, and Galvin was still going well when he fell in Battleoverdoyen’s race at Galway, and then there is Swordsman and Dortmund Park. And Samcro of course.

Programme

There is a good programme from now for the good staying novice chasers in Ireland, which includes the Florida Pearl Chase and the Drinmore Chase and the Neville Hotels Chase and the Matchbook Novice Chase and the Flogas Chase and the Ten Up Chase, before you have to decide between the National Hunt Chase and the RSA Chase and even the JLT Chase at the Cheltenham Festival.

All going well, each horse has plenty of potential routes through the season.

And it is interesting that Champagne Classic holds an entry in the Ladbrokes Trophy at Newbury, the old Hennessy.