“Follow me, we’ll watch this race from the last fence.”

The offer from Fairyhouse Racecourse manager Peter Roe last Sunday was one not to be refused.

There were only four runners in the Grade 1 Drinmore Novice Chase, but one of them was Envoi Allen, who minutes later would be described by trainer Gordon Elliott as “a horse of a lifetime”.

As we walked across the turf towards the infield, the empty grandstand behind us, the low-lying sun blinded us. It also poses a threat to jockeys and horses trying to find a stride going into a five-foot birch fence. An announcement came over the walkie-talkie: “Fences six, seven and eight will be omitted in this race.”

The reduction in the number of obstacles to be jumped makes no difference to Envoi Allen, who sets off in front under Jack Kennedy, deputising for the injured Davy Russell.

Approaching the final fence on the first circuit, the hot favourite is poetry in motion, but seems to momentarily (almost imperceptibly) steady himself before launching his imposing frame over the jump.

Momentum

He loses no ground or momentum at all and strides away from us, out on his final circuit. Rounding the home turn, with two fences to jump, a rival dares to challenge him for the lead. They jump it together but on landing Kennedy moves his hands and the reins ever so slightly on Envoi Allen and the horse responds immediately. Soon the leader is sprinting down to the final fence and this time he measures it perfectly, soaring over it before bounding clear to win without breaking sweat.

“He’s something else, boys,” says the racecourse manager, no doubt relieved that Irish racing’s brightest star followed the script and did not pick today to blot his copybook.

That’s 10 races and 10 wins for the gelding who changed hands for £400,000 after winning a point-to-point in April 2018 at Ballinaboola, Co Wexford.

Envoi Allen then went on to land the Bumper at the 2019 Cheltenham Festival and last March he returned there to win the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle.

His 2021 Cheltenham target is the Marsh Chase, the first race on the Thursday of the meeting. All going well, he will be going for the Gold Cup in 2022.

Gordon Elliott has only been training for 13 years but in that time he has won the Aintree Grand National three times and has had 31 Cheltenham Festival winners, including Gold Cup winner Don Cossack.

There is no denying that Envoi Allen is well on his way to becoming something very special.