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Gordon Elliott is driven only by winners, and he could make history next Saturday

It's only a short walk from the main garden at Gordon Elliott's Cullentra house stables to the back yard, but the dogs They are not impressed by the horse royalty that awaits us there and they decide that it is not worth the effort. They raise their heads for a moment and watch as we disappear around the corner.

The four horses in the field do not look up from their pastures when we lean on the fence and stare at them, but they are a beautiful sight, these kings and queens at ease.

Apple & Jade and Shattered Love are on one side of a rope and the mighty Samcro is on the other side. Beyond Samcro, the fourth horse, smaller and more stocky, shows a first flare of curiosity and walks slowly towards us.

The story of the Grand National next Saturday will confirm the story of Tiger Roll about history

The story around the Grand National this Saturday will confirm on the tilt of Tiger Roll in history

There is a white spot that looks like a heart on his forehead. It seems appropriate. Because this is Tiger Roll who tries to become the first horse to win the Grand National two years in a row since Red Rum in 1973 and 1974.

& # 39; He has a huge engine, & # 39; says Elliott. & # 39; He always wants to win. He has a great heart.

A truck with wood chips to the construction site of a new barn dribbles past, dragging dust clouds, and Tiger Roll and Samcro scare and bolt to the center of the field. We walk back to Elliott's office, where his desk sits in front of a window that overlooks the garden and where a wide-screen TV is on a racing channel.

The office is a monument to obsession and to success. Cheltenham trophies and Aintree and Leopardstown memorabilia displace the planks and border the walls. There are a few photo frames on the desk, but nothing in them. No photos of a partner. No pictures of father with his children. None of the gestures to family that successful men often make in their workplace.

Tiger Roll wants to be the first horse back-to-back Grand Nationals win since Red Rum "

to win back-to-back Grand Nationals since Red Rum

& # 39; I am single & # 39;" says Elliott, 41. & # 39; No kids I know I work hard I would say I have had a few long-term friends, but most break-ups are my fault because I am too selfish Horses are 24/7 "It's not easy for someone. I'm not ready to settle down. I hope it will happen to me someday, but at the moment I just don't see it.

& # 39; Racing is my life." There is only one thing I want to be: that is champion trainer. I don't care anymore. Holidays don't interest me. I watch football, but it doesn't bother me. I support no one. I don't play golf. don't have time. That's the way I am. I like being at home. I love what I do. It is well. I love to win. & # 39;

If the story of the Grand National will work on tilt from Tiger Roll in history next Saturday, it will also revolve around Elliott's remarkable fame in the race and the rise and rise of a trainer

If Mullins is a patrician dog in Irish racing, Elliott is the outsider, the son of a panel-beater and a housewife, a man whose ambition drove him and whose 78-hectare empire is surrounded by it the lush countryside of County Meath continues to grow.

The truck that scared Tiger Roll was a symbol of that ambition, the instrument of a man who is still working on making a dream come true.

While sitting at his desk, Elliott, a former jockey with a decent record in point to point, runs his finger down the list of preliminary registrations for the great race in Aintree and estimates that he is all 10 will have up to 12 runners in the National when the line-up is ready on Thursday. Martin Pipe, the idol of Elliott and the former employer, keeps the current record at 10.

Gordon Elliott & 78's acre rich amidst the lush countryside of County Meath continues to grow "

Gordon Elliott & # 39; s 78-acre rich amidst the lush countryside of County Meath continues to grow

Gordon Elliott & # 39; s 78- acre empire amidst the lush countryside of County Meath continues to grow

& # 39; I would like to run eleven & # 39 ;, says Elliott. I have worked for Martin Pipe and learned a lot from what I know I would like to run another if I could. Would it mean something? It would mean something to win the race again, but it would be nice to beat him too. He did most things, so it would be nice to beat him on one thing. "

There is something refreshing about openness d and gluttony of Elliott's ambition. He does not hide behind false modesty or insincere self-mockery. He is not boastful and he is the exact opposite of brash, but he has worked so hard to rise to where he is now that he does not have to apologize for his success.

He listens politely to the suggestion that a man who trains a quarter of the field in a race the size of the Grand National is unhealthy for the sport and slaps it away.

& # 39; I understand when I am going to do it. & # 39; I understand when people say I have too many runners in the National, & Elliott says. & # 39; I get it day in day out. But I was not born with a silver spoon in my mouth. I haven't left anything. I bought this place six years ago. I built everything myself.

& # 39; My background drives me. I have to pay a mortgage and pay wages every day of the week. I took a chance when I bought this place. I don't have the price of a down payment, let alone buy the place. We have continued to drive and drive on and on.

We are lucky: we have good staff and good owners. If you sit back in this game for a moment, you go backwards. That's the way I see it. The success has not changed my hunger. No. It does a lot of people.

& # 39; If you are David Beckham or someone who plays football and gets a few hundred thousand a week, maybe, but in this game you don't earn much money. You have large overhead, so you cannot lean back. It all goes well, you know.

<img id = "i-3386d662eab6b510" src = "https://ift.tt/2uzzcfN 20 / 11665912-0-image-a-19_1553978953148.jpg "height =" 422 "width =" 634 "alt =" Cheltenham trophies and Aintree and Leopardstown memorabilia adorn his office "

& # 39; My mother and father not & # 39;

My mother and father don't like horses. My father cuts the lawns for me. My mother cleans the house three days a week. I worked hard for everything I have. I didn't get any handouts.

& # 39; I would not like to help anyone, but if you work hard, you will come across people who whine about everything. But that is life, especially in Ireland. I have five or six different owners on 10 of my horses for the Grand National, so it's not like an owner owns them all. But that's just the way it is. & # 39;

The National has a special place in the history of Elliott. When he was only 29 years old and had not trained any winners in Ireland, he won the most famous British race in 2007 with Silver Birch. & # 39; I didn't know who I was, & # 39; he said, & # 39; but they knew who I was. & # 39;

He founded races on courses in Northern England and Scotland because they were races that he thought his horses could. win. He was a regular visitor to Perth, Ayr and Musselburgh. Always the advice of his mentor Pipe was in his ears. & # 39;

Elliott is now reciting that mantra. & # 39; Keep your horses in the worst company & # 39 ;, the exalted trainer told him, & # 39; and stay in the best company. & # 39; & # 39; In other words, & # 39; he says, & # 39; make sure your horse runs well and wins, and make sure you hang out with the right people. We all want to be there on the big day and have runners on the big day, but it makes no sense to go to Wimbledon and play a center field when you have to play in your local park. You go where you can win. That is what I have been taught.

<img id = "i-854e976b069703dc" src = "https://ift.tt/2FLjpkz -21_1553978959559.jpg "height =" 422 "width =" 634 "alt =" The trainer wants to overtake his great rival Willie Mullins in the pecking order of Irish racing. "

The trainer wants to overtake his great rival Willie Mullins in the pecking order of Irish racing his great rival Willie Mullins overtakes in the pecking order of Irish racing

And so Elliott won in Perth, Ayr and Musselburgh and his horses graduated to bigger things. And soon he also won in Ireland. And gradually his series of horses grew with his reputation and the 30 horses under his custody turned to 40 and to 50 and 100. And then he bought the Cullentra house and the land around it in 2013 because he knew he could not fulfill his ambition without it.

The building is now state-of-the-art. There is a horse swimming pool, there are four specially built galloppers, a strip for all weather conditions. There is capacity for 200 horses. Elliott has built up such a & # 39; n reputation that when O & # 39; Leary shared with Mullins a few years ago, it was normal that he had to train many Gigginstown horses at Cullentra House.

Elliott has trained more than 1,000 winners. He has won two Grand Nationals and the Cheltenham Gold Cup 2016 with Don Cossack.

Because of all this you have stayed on earth, sympathetic.

& # 39; It has become a bit of a joke now & # 39 ;, he says. & # 39; Maybe it's embarrassing. People do not normally call when Home and Absent. It is an elimination for me. & # 39;

Elliott is loved. People are happy with him. He is inexorably respectful to Mullins and says his rival is the man who sets the standards. His garden seems to be a happy place

Jockey Davey Russell celebrates after driving Tiger Roll to victory in last year's Grand National Tiger Roll to victory in last year's Grand National "

Joey Davey Russell celebrates after driving Tiger Roll to the victory in the Grand National last year

& # 39; I am usually easy going & # 39 ;, says Elliott. & # 39; If something goes wrong, I can get a revolution. If you don't do that, you shouldn't do it. You should have a little fire. If someone saddles me the wrong way, I wouldn't be afraid to let them go.

& # 39; But I enjoy what I do. I have a great team behind me. "

Elliott travels to Aintree. Self-assured Tiger Roll has the shape of his life and that although he will carry more than six pounds more in the National than 12 months ago. Whatever happens, his own ambition will not be saturated.

Whatever happens, his own ambition will not be saturated. He is too far behind Mullins in the prize list this season to have a realistic chance of avoiding winning the title of Ireland champion for the 12th consecutive year. But he will always come back.

I am 41 and I have trained many winners for my age, he says. & # 39; But there is only one thing that I want to be and that it is the champion trainer.

& # 39; I hope to be in the game for the next 25 or 30 years and hopefully it will happen in some cases stage

& I have done almost everything regarding building here at Cullentra House. I've been here for six years. I still have the feeling that we are following an upward trend. I love it. I like racing. I love winners. I don't care where it is. If it is Perth or Leopardstown or Tramore or Aintree, I love to train winners. I love horses. I like racing.

The Randox Health Grand National Festival at Aintree Racecourse runs from Thursday, April 4 through Saturday, April 6. Tickets are available at thejockeyclub.co.uk/aintree/ events-tickets / grand-national / tickets /

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