Be Aware caught the eye earlier this season when he made a winning start to his chase career at Stratford. Dan Skelton’s runner showed a lot of promise, and he is now set to take on some of the best novice chasers in the Arkle Trophy at the Cheltenham Festival.
The seven-year-old is one of two horses entered in the 2m contest on day one of the Festival for Skelton. He will join his stablemate Mirabad, with the pair looking to give their trainer a first victory in the prestigious novice chase.
Be Aware has fared well in Graded company
Be Aware has featured just once in Grade One company so far. He finished second in the Henry VIII Novices’ Chase at Sandown behind Lulamba. Those placing Cheltenham bets on the Arkle Trophy can get odds of 80/1 on Be Aware reversing his form with Lulamba and prevailing in the race.
Lulamba is one of the leading horses in the Cheltenham predictions for the Arkle Trophy. Skelton will be encouraged by the way his runner competed with Nicky Henderson’s chaser at Sandown. Be Aware led for most of the race but just got outpaced in the final couple of furlongs.
In his most recent appearance at Windsor, Be Aware once again just found one horse better than him on the day. He was second in the Grade II Lightning Novices’ Chase, finishing a length behind No Questions Asked. That outing was the novice’s final preparation run before the Cheltenham Festival.
Skelton can be encouraged by Mirabad’s latest effort
Mirabad also goes into the Arkle Trophy as a winner over fences. He got off the mark at the first attempt at Exeter. That performance convinced Skelton to run his horse in the Wayward Lad Novices’ Chase at Kempton, where he was third behind Mambonumberfive and Hansard respectively.
The Arkle Trophy contender suffered a blip at Windsor in early January as he unseated Harry Skelton from the saddle when clear of his rivals. He returned to the same course a month later to finish a respectable second behind Steel Ally.
With solid form from both horses this season, Harry Skelton faces a tough decision when it comes to which horse he will ride for his brother in the Festival contest. The former Champion Jockey is likely to leave his call as late as possible, and it may come down to which chaser impresses the most on the gallops in training.
Arkle win would be a boost to Trainers’ Championship bid
Success in the Arkle Trophy would be a huge boost for Skelton in his bid to win this season’s Trainers’ Championship. The Midlands-based trainer goes into the Cheltenham Festival with a big lead in the standings, but as he saw 12 months ago when runner-up to Champion Trainer Willie Mullins, with so much prize money on offer across the four days, his rivals can close the gap.
It has been an excellent campaign so far for Skelton. Along with accumulating over £3 million in prize money, in the Trainers’ Championship standings, he has had big race wins in the Lancashire Chase, Paddy Power Gold Cup, and Haldon Gold Cup. A victory in the Arkle would be his biggest triumph of the season to date.
The 2026 Cheltenham Festival begins on Tuesday March 10th , with the Arkle taking place at 2.00 pm on the opening day, preceded by our own opening fixture the day before.
