Envoi Allen went one higher in his last battle with Hewick to regain the Ladbrokes Championship Chase trophy at Down Royal.
Henry de Bromhead’s 10-year-old takes prime honors within the reintroduced Group 1 race for 2022 however completed second behind Gerri Colombe 12 months in the past .
This time Gerri Colombe took the lead early however King George hero Hewick then took over the reins of affairs with a first-time go by way of the stands.
Jordan Gainford regularly picked up the tempo and made a sequence of good jumps to place stress on these behind, with favourite Gerri Colombe discovering himself out of kinds as he turned residence.
Nonetheless, Darragh O’Keeffe – who got here in for the absent Rachael Blackmore – was not fazed by Envoi Allen, who efficiently challenged Two outs after which continued robust to take a 3-1 lead by half a minute.
Darragh O’Keeffe wins prime award
Envoi Allen is 12-1, Ryanair Chase’s Coral is 20-1 and Hewick’s King George is 16 -1, with a document of 12-1.
A delighted De Bromhead stated: “It is incredible, he is only a class horse. Nicely achieved to everybody within the household.
“Clearly it is a disgrace for Rachel however it’s nice for Darla that he is given him a brilliant trip and he is actually improved. Truthful play to him and he is taking his possibilities.
“Cheveley Park (Stud, house owners) are big supporters of us and the game and delighted for them too.”
Requested if it was his finest efficiency of the three video games on this competitors, Bromhead stated: “In all probability, to be honest. He is sensible and jumps properly. His efficiency superb.
“I’d additionally say, in all probability higher than final yr. That can assist us.
“I believed once we received to the ultimate spherical we had been going to complete it off once more, however he performed rather well.
“I’ve to say I believed Darragh’s tackle him was sensible.”
Talking about future plans, Bromhead stated: “He is 10 now, so we’ll see.
“King George saved popping up in my thoughts and I felt like we had unfinished enterprise.
“I would like to speak to Cheveley Park and see what everybody needs to do.
“He was initially going to run over the Christmas interval (on the Savills Chase final yr) and I feel the Leopardstown floor has simply been very examined.”
