Santa has come and gone for another year but there was plenty of Christmas boxes in terms of winners with Gordon Elliott on fire. With winners all over the country 18 in total ! When you see the results, tallied and a few more winners tomorrow at Punchestown, may yet add to the tall of 122 winners sent out in 713 runners to 29th December. Elliott continues his drive to be Champion trainer, he acknowledges the task to take the title from W P Mullins will not be an easy one but he is having one hell of a go at it. His last winner at the Dublin venue Keep Him Company is aptly named.

From his trip to Far Hills in New Jersey when he went through the card and won every race with a five timer, he has continued to roll in the winners. Over the Christmas Festivals he has added 18 winners over the four days, by any standards phenomenal. The Cullentra based trainer has a cool €2.44m in prize money. Mullins sits on 95 winners with €1.73m and a long way to go. we are in for a ding dong battle this year.

Noel Meade has won the Trainers Title six times in his career.

The maestro and veteran trainer Noel Meade based at Tu Va in Castletown has shown again his prowess to produce winners picking up some fine winners too winning another Grade 1 with Affordable Fury in the Savills Chase on Sunday and The Mourne Rambler on St Stephen’s Day. He has 16 winners from 101 runners to date. Meanwhile Gavin Cromwell is still pulling in winners with 44 winners so far from 494 runners.

The Meath based trainers are currently in the top five with Elliott in pole position and Cromwell 4th and Meade 5th. Over in the Uk over 17,000 patrons turned up for the King George VI in Kempton. The finish was as good as it gets with Harry RedKnapp’s The Jukebox Man winning by a nose getting back up to beat Banbridge and a nose to Gaelic Warrior trained by Joseph Patrick O’Brien and W P Mullins respectively. It certainly got on the front pages of the Uk papers and Tv with the Harry’s fame as a footballer, manager and celebrity. Racing needs these stars. What a tragedy that would be to the racing world but it is hard to stop the changing times, they call it progress.

Now are you ready for it

Gordon Elliotts  18 winners over Christmas;

26th December; 6

Ballyfad 7/4, Spinola Bay 7/2, Romeo Coolio 8/15, (Leopardstown)

Kanzansky 9/2, (Limerick)

Sept Etoiles 11/2, Stranagaibhgoleir 9/1. (down Royal)

27th December: 5

Hardy Stuff 20/1, Skylight Hurdle 3/1, Bowensonfire 3/1, Favori De Champdou 66/1, (Leopardstown)

Cumberland River 14/1 (Limerick)

28th December: 2

Lazare de Star 6/4, Teahupoo 5/2,  (Leopardstown)

29th December: 5

Lynches Knock 6/1, Wodhooh 8/15, Kish bank 9/2, Keep Him Company 100/30  (Leopardstown)

Last Round 7/2 (Limerick)