Henry de Bromhead is hoping to maintain his impressive record in the race

Heart Wood faces the dual challenge of maintaining Henry de Bromhead's exceptional record while honouring one of the yard's greatest performers in the BetVictor, Remembering Envoi Allen Champion Chase at Down Royal.

This year's race acts as a tribute to the trainer's three-time Grade One winner, and the Knockeen-based handler is hopeful that last season's Ryanair Chase victor can meet such high expectations as he returns to a longer distance at the beginning of the new campaign.

De Bromhead commented: "Heart Wood is hopefully a fitting horse to take to the race and he was brilliant in the Ryanair at Cheltenham.

"We want to step him back up to three miles and see how we get on. We'd love to see him become a three-miler this season and then we can see (about possibly the Gold Cup). Hopefully Down Royal will tell us a bit."

He added: "Envoi Allen had an incredible record at Down Royal and especially in that race so it's a lovely tribute to him from both the course and the sponsors."

Seven horses remain in contention for Saturday's feature race, with Heart Wood among them. Romeo Coolio looks to begin the new season strongly, having performed consistently throughout the campaign until the Cheltenham Festival for Gordon Elliott, who has also left Croke Park in the entries.

Rebecca Curtis fields the intriguing contender Haiti Couleurs, while Affordale Fury — last year's Savills Chase winner — returns to action having missed the Cheltenham Gold Cup due to a setback after pulling up at the Dublin Racing Festival.

Although Joseph O'Brien's focus remains firmly on the Breeders' Cup, he'll be keeping a close eye on his former King George champion Banbridge, who marked his return to Flat racing with a victory at Gowran last month.

Rounding off the potential field is Andrew Slattery's Fleur In The Park, who secured top-level glory at Fairyhouse in April before backing it up with a winning comeback run in the Grade Two Danoli Chase at Gowran earlier this month.