Gordon Elliott 
/ Gordon Elliott / 28 November 2011 / Leave a Comment 
Can Priors Gold repeat at Wolverhampton
"Priors Gold was long odds-on when winning over a mile and six here at Wolverhampton on Friday night and he gets the mandatory six-pound increase for that effort.
Brendan Powell, who we've booked for this afternoon, is a young jockey with a bright future and he claims 7lbs off him so he's effectively running off a pound lower mark."
He landed a valuable race at Navan on Sunday and has a trio of runners going at Wolverhampton - can they follow up? Read Gordon's exclusive thoughts here
Let's start off with a quick look back at Navan yesterday afternoon, where Mount Benbulben did us proud when winning the Grade 2 Monksfield Hurdle - an important win for us. The horse has come out of the race pretty well and it was great to win for Barry Connell, who bought him at the Cheltenham sales.
Davy Condon gave him a great ride to get him up late and, after that, I don't think the horse will dropped in trip. As I said all along, he's a horse that will get three miles in time, so hopefully it's onwards and upwards for him.
He could reappear at Navan next month or, if not, we'll wait until January and a trip to Leopardstown. His long-term goal is one of the novice events in Cheltenham, so fingers crossed he continues to improve for us.
Getting back to today's action, I have three runners in Wolverhampton.
Wolverhampton, 14:10
Caracal
He remains a maiden and has been well beaten on his most recent runs, although he was third in a handicap at Dundalk back in October. He's been dropped seven pounds since then and I suppose that gives him some chance of reaching the frame but, with him, it's all about his frame of mind. He certainly has the ability to win at this level but it's all in his head.
Wolverhampton, 17:20
Priors Gold & Sounds Of Thunder
These two go to Wolverhampton this afternoon because I can't get them in at Dundalk. Priors Gold is a pretty consistent hurdler, who has shown a decent level of form in that sphere but both of his wins have come on good ground and so we thought we might take the opportunity to run him on the all-weather while the turf is soft.
He was long odds-on when winning over a mile and six here at Wolverhampton on Friday night and he gets the mandatory six-pound increase for that effort.
Brendan Powell, who we've booked for this afternoon, is a young jockey with a bright future and he claims 7lbs off him so he's effectively running off a pound lower mark. He goes an extra couple of furlongs today, which is probably about as far as he wants to go on the flat, but he's in great form and Brendan seems to riding with real confidence so we're hopeful of another big run.
Sounds Of Thunder is similar to Priors Gold in that all her winning form over jumps is on good ground. She was a winner on the all-weather here at Wolverhampton for Harry Dunlop back in 2009, when running off a mark of 65. She's five pounds lower than that today, but that victory came over nine furlongs and the two-mile trip is a worry.
On her last run on the flat - in Dundalk back in April - she wasn't beaten all that far but, again, that was only over 11 furlongs. I'm also concerned that she might need this run.
Tharawaat is the major hope for Gordon Eliott in the feature event of the weekend - the Troytown Chase at Navan - read about that horse and all his other runners here...
It's all systems go for Gordon Elliott with runners on both days including one on English soil (well, the All-Weather at Wolverhampton). Read about them all here......
Gordon Elliott takes us through his five chasers and five hurdlers to watch in what is already shaping up to be a cracking season for the Irish trainer and Betfair columnist......
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