Envoi Allen Sends Punters Packing With Ryanair Chase Win

Envoi Allen sent the punters packing once again with a stunning win in the Ryanair Chase over EVS favourite Shishkin. Rachael Blackmore guided Envoi Allen to his third victory at Cheltenham as the popular horse ran well and had enough in the final furlongs to hold off Shishkin. 

For Nico de Boinville and Nicky Henderson, it was an incredibly disappointing run for Shishkin. He was in midfield for the majority of the race and made a mistake with three to go as he hit the fence and almost forced De Boinville off him. However, he rallied at the finish to take second place - but it isn’t the big prize the punters wanted. 

This was all about Envoi Allen though. "He's an incredible horse, he really is,” Blackmore told ITV. “He's got a phenomenal engine and I was always hoping he could do something like that in this company one day. He was electric."

It was a race that just panned out perfectly for the horse that loves the challenge that Cheltenham poses. With French Dynamite, he led the way early on. Chacun Poir Soi then moved into the lead and began to make the running from the front with Allen running hard on the outside. Shishkin was calm in midfield on the inside of Fury Road. 

Shishkin was jumping to the left slightly with ten to go as they turned away from the crowd. Chacun Poir Soi remained in front as Shishkin finally began to make ground into fifth with five to go. French Dynamite stayed in second with Envoi Allen on the outside in third. Shishkin was behind the front four with three to go but ready to strike. 

However, with three to go Shishkin thumped the fence which nearly knocked De Boinville off him but he stayed on, although it slowed the favourite drastically. At the front, Envoi Allen jumped wonderfully to move into contention and then with two to go he took the lead and didn’t look back. He raced away and although Shishkin finished well to come second, the short-priced favourite was nowhere near the leader. 

It’s another win for Ireland and a stunning win with Rachael Blackmore and the De Bromhead family. They’ve truly turned up at the Festival this year and on a day where the favourites have been beaten. No win for Shishkin! 

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