Talking Horses: Cheltenham reception will be acid test for Gordon Elliott

The warmth, or otherwise, of the response after his next Festival winner will be a key weathervane for whether the racing public are ready to forgive if not forget

Winners' enclosure: Davy Russell and Gordon Elliott acknowledge the applause after their win with Coach Carter on Sunday at Listowel.

AS one of the biggest names in jumping officially departed the stage last week, two more returned to action as a National Hunt campaign which officially started in May slowly works its way through the gears. Farewell Altior, one of the outstanding two-milers of recent decades. Hello again, Davy Russell and Gordon Elliott, after many months on the sidelines for very different reasons.

In the last two seasons of his career, much more time was expended on speculation about where Altior might run next, and then forensic analysis of the reasons why he hadn’t, than in actually watching him in action on the track.