He will not be cheering them on during the heat of battle at Cheltenham, far from it – but Bob Olinger and Dysart Dynamo have both received a seal of approval from Gordon Elliott.

The exciting pair, trained by Henry de Bromhead and Willie Mullins respectively, are leading hopes for the Turners Novices’ Chase (Bob Olinger) and the Supreme or Ballymore Novices’ Hurdles (Dysart Dynamo), but they have caught the eye of the rival handler.

Elliott has his own possible representatives in each of those races, but asked this week for a novice chaser and novice hurdler to follow at the big meeting from a yard other than his own, the Cullentra trainer had little hesitation.

He said: “I saw Bob Olinger schooling in Navan (last week), it was just getting dark and you could only really see him over the last two fences and it looked like he jumped them awesome.

“And without trying to sound like the great man Ruby Walsh, I just loved the way he went from the last to the line. From what I saw, I was very impressed.

“I thought Dysart Dynamo was good in Punchestown, he looked awesome from what I saw. It was only a Grade Two, but that’s as impressive on the eye that I’ve seen (in the novice division). Maybe I’m wrong, I don’t know. He’s not one of ours, but I thought he looked good.”