AS a keen observer of horsepower, North Yorkshire trainer Brian Ellison has proved so often that he knows a good engine when he sees one, writes Steve Carroll.

So when he describes Cheltenham-bound novice Definitly Red as “a Rolls Royce”, it takes willpower not to leave his Norton yard, rush to the nearest bookie and wager the mortgage.

If the ground is right - and if it’s too firm he won’t be going - the pride of the Spring Cottage Stable’s jumping team will launch an assault on the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle on the final day of next month’s Cheltenham Festival.

High expectations, already soaring after the five-year-old won on his first start for Ellison at Catterick on New Year’s Day, were raised even further when Definitly Red put in a gritty performance to win the Grade 2 Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle under rider Richard Johnson at Haydock earlier this month.

It was a battling display, a half- a-length victory over favourite Fletcher’s Flyer, with the third- placed horse a further 22 lengths back. Now among the fancied entrants in the Albert Bartlett, Ellison admits Definitly Red represents his best chance of breaking his Festival duck.

That is, of course, if he runs.

“He definitely won’t be running if it’s good ground,” said the Geordie trainer. “It needs to be on the easy side or softer. If not, there are plenty of options for him. He could go to Liverpool, Puncheston or Ayr.

“He is such a nice horse and, probably next year, he will go chasing and could be top-class. We just need to look after him a bit.”

The last time Ellison had such a strong Festival fancy was after Marsh Warbler had won the Grade One Future Champions Finale Juvenile Hurdle at Chepstow four years ago.

The elements conspired against him - the soft-surface specialist finishing 11th on good ground in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle.

This time, though, the trainer is relaxed and believes bigger triumphs are ahead even if Definitly Red fails to make the start line next month.

“His last race was a good race between two good horses,” said Ellison. “They went a long way clear. The third horse will probably go on to win his novice and he was beaten by 22 lengths.

“He didn’t lose much weight from the race. His head was up all the time and, mentally, I think he has improved again from that run. It was only his second race for us, and he has won two out of two.

“He was a good bumper horse, but if it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen. I won’t be sitting worrying about the ground. If the ground doesn’t come, we won’t run.”

“We know we have a good future with the horse – he could end up being a Gold Cup horse. He stays well. He will jump a fence well. He has just got class. He showed it at Haydock. He is rated 143, and I think there’s still a lot of improvement to come.”

Ellison is hoping Johnson will partner Definitly Red again at Cheltenham, but the staying hurdler is far from the trainer’s only hope of Festival glory.

He hopes Streets Of Newyork can take his chance in the Vincent O’Brien County Hurdle on March 13 and, of his recent Musselburgh winner, he said: “He won really well last time. He travels. He is jumping better. He is a horse that is improving all the time and, if he goes to Cheltenham, he will run well. I think he will go to the County Hurdle.

The Northern Echo:

“It’s a hot race - especially when you have got the Irish coming over - and all you can do is get your horse there in good fettle, in the best form you can, and hope he runs his race.

“It’s hard to go there and say you are going to win. Especially on the Friday because you are going to meet better ground. We know he will go on better ground, but a lot of horses will run on softer and, all of a sudden, the ground changes everything.”

Racing Europe might make the Pertemps, while Ellison’s Cheltenham team is likely to be completed by Top Of The Glas, a horse that has celebrity owners in the shape of Sunderland defender John O’Shea and England captain Wayne Rooney.

The Triumph Hurdle, also staged on the Festival’s final day, could be the destination for a horse who may be better than his race record suggests.

“I think Top Of The Glas is a very good horse,” said Ellison. “I don’t think anything has gone right for him. He’s also in the Fred Winter, but he would probably get in the Triumph and I think he is a lot better horse than he has shown.”