Author: Peter McNeile

All trainers dream of winning the Cheltenham Gold Cup, but for Dan Skelton that dream could soon be a reality due to the excellence of Protektorat on the track in the 2021/22 campaign. The bay gelding had a solid end to the previous campaign, and Skelton would have been more hopeful than expectant of his charge taking the next step in his development.

However, he has put in two outstanding performances at the start of the campaign to push his case to be a leading contender for the Gold Cup in March. If you’re one to bet on horse racing, you’ll probably be aware that Protektorat’s 16/1 odds have plummeted since the start of the season when he was considered a rank outsider for the crown. A quick look at the racing tips today will also tell you that Irish contender A Plus Tard is the favourite for the Gold Cup, and rightly so given his performance at the Betfair Chase.

Leading contenders have been beaten in this prestigious race before and will be again. There will be an opportunity for Protektorat to prove his quality, although his previous appearance at Cheltenham Festival was disappointing, to say the least. In 2020, he competed in the Coral Cup and was backed at decent odds to take that competitive handicap back to Alcester. Harry Skelton took the reins, but could not get a tune out of the bay gelding at the business end of the race and faded from contention to finish 13th.

Protektorat is a much stronger competitor now than two years ago due to the six-year-old’s natural development. He ended the last campaign with a victory at the Manifesto Novices’ Chase at Aintree. The French – bred was on point on his return to the track following wind surgery. He beat The Shunter toe win by 3 3/4 lengths, ending his season on the front foot and with momentum to take into the new campaign.

It was evident that Protektorat had taken a stride forward as he competed in the Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham. Even though the bay gelding made a mistake at the fifth fence that would have normally derailed his race, Harry Skelton kept the horse on track and he responded with a brilliant effort, an effort that almost allowed him to close down Midnight Shadow, just losing out by three-quarters of a length.

Despite the Cheltenham defeat, Dan Skelton was optimistic that Protektorat was finding his peak form and his judgement was borne out in the Many Clouds Chase at Aintree. The French – bred was one of the top contenders alongside Native River from the in-form Tizzard yard. However, he would blow away the competition with a dominant performance, the best of his career, to win by 25 lengths with Bridget Andrews in the saddle.

Protektorat will need to produce his A game to win the Gold Cup. Dan Skelton will be hopeful that the French – bred has inherited the attributes of his famous owner Sir Alex Ferguson and his winning mentality for the grand occasion. The talent is there, but he will require a flawless effort to match the best in the sport come March.

Dan Skelton is training a horse of magnificent calibre in the form of Shan Blue. The potential of the bay gelding is limitless, and there is a big race in him somewhere – and soon. Saturday’s Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby could have been the start of a very productive campaign for Shan Blue along with Harry and Dan Skelton, were it not for that somersault at the third last with the race won.

The horse put down a dominating performance at Wetherby as he stormed 20 lengths clear of a field stacked with talent. All he had to do was clear the remaining fences and a signature win would have belonged to the Skeltons and owner Colm Donlon. However, Shan Blue had a crashing fall three fences from the end of the race when unchallenged, spurning a golden chance of victory. Nicky Henderson’s Fusil Raffles capitalised on his misfortune to win the contest.

Despite the setback, there should be high excitement about the future of Shan Blue in the 2021/22 National Hunt season. If you check today’s racing results you will no doubt see a high-profile horse that failed to perform, but it is the nature of the sport that mistakes and misfires occur on a daily basis even for the best of competitors. There’s a reason it’s called Jump racing: you have to jump round to win. Shan Blue is still backable as a solid contender for the Ryanair Chase at Cheltenham Festival in 2022, although Dan Skelton may opt to place his charge elsewhere and even the Gold Cup is a possibility.

The bay gelding was outstanding in the early stages of last term, reeling off three victories on the bounce, including a brilliant run at the Kauto Star Novices’ Chase before suffering a defeat at Sandown Park. The presence of Envoi Allen was supposed to leave his hopes in the Marsh Novices’ Chase as a write-off. However, after the favourite fell after the third fence, the race was blown wide open.

Shan Blue failed to rise to the occasion amid the talent of Chantry House, while he was forced to settle for fifth place behind the eventual winner along with Fusil Raffles, Asterion Forlonge, and Chatham Street Lad. The seven-year-old should have had the quality to compete for the middle distance novices crown, but was off the pace when it mattered most.

Chantry House would haunt the Skeltons and Shan Blue once more to end the campaign. The bay gelding was competitive for a time in the Mildmay Novices’ Chase at Aintree, but once Chantry House found his rhythm, he pulled away from Shan Blue and stormed to a dominant 32l victory. Given the end to the last campaign and the disappointment to start the new one, there might be question marks over Shan Blue. He has been found wanting at Grade I level. However, he remains a quality competitor and may need only one clean and flawless ride to regain his peak form.

Dan Skelton should be pressing his charge forward in the major races on the National Hunt calendar before Cheltenham 2022 and will not be deterred by the fear of failure. The example of Envoi Allen’s fall at the Marsh Novices’ Chase and Shan Blue’s own disappointment at the Charlie Hall Chase is evidence that anything can happen in the top races. Envoi Allen redeemed himself spectacularly at Down Royal on Saturday.

Skelton and Shan Blue just need the dice to fall in their favour and capitalise on the opportunity of a big prize for this exciting star of the future.

Dan Skelton looks set for another strong season as his yard seems to improve every year.

Skelton has made a solid start in the early stages of the 2021/22 campaign. As always, a lot will depend on who wins the big races at the major festivals this season as the Trainers’ Championship in Jump racing is decided on prize money. Much as we’d like to play a part during the frequent summer fixtures at Stratford, it’s more often that our early spring fixtures play a role in the closing stages of any championship bid.

With Champion Jockey Harry Skelton riding so well, the brothers may be in line for their best season yet on the track. Even if you weren’t able to attend this Spring, Skelton jnr was in blistering form as his elder brother helped him to a first Jockeys’ Championship with several doubles and trebles at Stratford in a blazing run of April form.

Strong Team Which Can Have Success At Cheltenham Festival

The Cheltenham Festival is the biggest meeting of the year in National Hunt racing. Although that comes at the end of the season, Skelton will already be thinking about which races his horses will run in, such is the impact of the Festival on the thinking of the elite of trainers.

Third Time Lucki last weekend made a winning start over fences at Cheltenham and he is likely to return to the same course for the Arkle. The novice chaser is 14/1 in the bet on horse racing ante-post market for the race at the Festival, although a lot of contenders haven’t yet been seen.

Skelton enjoyed four Grade One victories last season and one of those came with My Drogo in the Mersey Novices’ Hurdle at Aintree. The six-year-old was unbeaten over hurdles last year. He is now set to embark on a novice chase campaign. The horse is amongst the market leaders for all the novice chases next March.

Queen Mother Champion Chase runner-up Nube Negra looks set to tackle the leading 2m races this season. The Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown and the Desert Orchid Chase at Kempton both carry decent prize money ahead of his shot at the leading 2m chase contest at the Festival.

Henderson and Nicholls Likely To Be Biggest Rivals Again

Skelton was able to split Henderson and Nicholls for the first time in his career next season but he will be fully aware of how strong both stables are. It could be one of the closest title races yet between the three trainers. There’s a certain irony in Nicholls’ one-time protégé pinching the title from his former teacher.

Nicholls won his 12th Trainers’ Championship last season. He had 172 winners, which was a career best for the Ditcheat trainer. Although he did not have a great Cheltenham Festival, he won the Tingle Creek and King George VI Chase.

Henderson, who is an eight-time winner of the Trainers’ Championship, won the Arkle last season, one of the highlights for the Seven Barrows man. With Gold Cup contender Chantry House in his stable, he will once again be targeting some of the biggest 3m+ chases.

The Grand National at Aintree is a race Henderson has yet to win. The world’s most famous steeplechase will be one of his priorities this season. If he can land the Aintree feature, he will go a long way towards regaining his crown. Indeed, such is the scale of the prize fund for the National that it puts almost any of the top five contenders into the fray.

Hopefully, we will see lots of runners from Skelton, Nicholls and Henderson at Stratford from next March. It is set to be a fascinating battle between these three leading exponents of their profession.

It’s well known that the Irish love their Jump racing. Of course, plenty of British trainers are painfully aware of that fact at the moment, given the dominance we have seen from the Irish at blue-riband events like Cheltenham in recent years, even at this past weekend’s Showcase fixture. But today, some of those Raiders who delighted both British and Irish fans alike have a home in the Living Legends tour in County Kildare.

Visitors can visit the tour at the Irish National Stud, brushing up against the likes of Faugheen, Hardy Eustace and Hurricane Fly. While it’s in its infancy, Living Legends is a fantastic idea and has room to evolve into something much bigger. Moreover, it’s something that should be considered on this side of the Irish Sea.

Would racing fans pay a few quid to visit some of the modern greats in the UK? Would they appreciate a day out reliving great memories with stars Altior, Sprinter Sacré and Cue Card? It’s easy to see something like that being popular with British racing fans.

Take, for example, the latest member of the Living Legends tour – Faugheen. It’s difficult to stress just how popular “The Machine” was in Ireland during his heyday. And, when he joined the Living Legends, it became national news. There was a great buzz about Faugheen’s arrival, and it also sparked online debate about who could be next to arrive – Douvan? Tiger Roll one day? Obviously, the focus is on geldings who can’t sire foals, but you could also make room for some mares, like Annie Power or Quevega, once their breeding days are done.

Fans enjoy a special relationship with their National Hunt stars

The racing journalist Enda McElhinney, who writes for The Telegraph and MansionBet Blog, once wrote in the latter about the unique relationship between fans and jumps racing horses. The prolonged careers, “returning year in, year out”, allows fans to develop affinities with certain horses that is arguably not possible on the flat. Yes, we all loved Frankel and other stars of the flat, and some can have lengthy careers. But the jumps horses who re-emerge to surprise us and win us over again have a different kind of appeal.

Consider Sprinter Sacré’s Champion Chase win in 2016. There’s a fair argument that it was the best Cheltenham Festival moment of the 21^st century. The proverbial roof came off the place, and the tears were flowing from more eyes than Nicky Henderson’s alone. But that moment came from fans developing a relationship with Sprinter down the years. The 2016 win carried the weight of history on Sprinter’s back, and that made it extra special.

Australia also has a living legends programme

Ireland is not alone in having a Living Legends tour. Australia, too, has it, although with a few differences. Ireland’s tour is run by the National Stud, whereas it’s a welfare charity Down Under. But you can see Melbourne Cup winners like Prince of Penzance, and it has homed many stars down the years, including Silent Witness and Apache Cat. The focus in Australia is a little different, having a big emphasis on taking horses ‘home’ from urban environments (notably Hong Kong), but the end result is similar: fans flock to see big names who sparkled on the track in the past.

Getting back to the British Isles, there is a logistical advantage for the Irish in terms of location (The National Stud in Kildare is within two hour’s drive of most of the major training operations) and in relationships through the various strata of racing, including government backing.

But wouldn’t it be nice to see a similar set-up in the UK?