Dan Skelton: Stable Tour ahead of Cheltenham Festival 2024

Last year saw the Shelfield Green handler walk away with two winners from Britain’s premier National Hunt meeting following the victories of Langer Dan in the Coral Cup Handicap Hurdle and Faivoir in the County Handicap Hurdle.

Both horses feature among what Skelton describes as an "acceptable" team which also includes leading Turners Novices’ Chase or Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase contender Grey Dawning, plus Ryanair Chase hopeful Protektorat.

And with plenty of positivity coming from the Skelton camp ahead of the prestigious meeting, hopes are high that at least one, if not more, of those that will be flying the flag for the team can hit the back of the net.

“It was a very successful meeting for us last year, but it gets lost in the analysis when Willie Mullins has the number he has and you come away with two,” said Skelton.

“We’ve not won there every year that we have been training, but we are consistently there or thereabouts and that is important as it is what your owners want. I think we have a few Grade One chances in Grey Dawning, Protektorat and Royal Infantry, if we decide to go with him in the Champion Bumper.

“We have a representative in most of the handicaps and they are going there because they have a squeak and because those races will suit them, just like Faivoir last year.

“I don’t know what price Shan Blue will be, but he has to have a chance in the Ultima (Handicap Chase) as that flame and spark is there.

“I think we have a very acceptable team. Unfortunately it doesn’t compare to Willie Mullins, but there is no other trainer who has a team like him.

“I think going forward we have the novices to push higher next year and the year after as you have got to keep pushing higher."

Stable Tour - Cheltenham Festival 2024

Calico (Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Challenge Cup Handicap Chase)

“We are definitely going for the Grand Annual with Calico. It has frustrated me that he has had to give weight away all season, but he has been very consistent.

“I think he is very effective on the Old Course as it is a sharp track, and I think it really suits him as he is all about speed. He is an out and out pure two-miler and he has improved a lot through age. He goes there with an each-way chance."

Faivoir (County Handicap Hurdle)

“He will be going back to try and win the County Hurdle again and he will run how he wants. He likes soft ground, and he loves that track, so he will be competitive. He won’t tell me how he is going to run so I haven’t got a clue. We thoroughly enjoyed him winning the race last season, but he is highly unpredictable. His season has been acceptable.

"He ran moderately a couple of times in the autumn and the handicapper didn’t drop him. He finished a second in an uncompetitive handicap at Ascot and ran moderately back there in the Betfair Exchange Trophy. He ran really nicely in the Betfair Hurdle the other day and was not beaten too far, but that has no bearing on how he will run here. All you can do with a horse like him is make sure he is fit and ride him the way he wants to be ridden.”

Flegmatik (Ultima Handicap Chase/TrustATrader Plate Handicap Chase)

“We will possibly go to Cheltenham with him for the Plate. He has been consistent all season. He is better right handed, but he doesn’t get the chance to race left handed much. He jumps straighter now than he ever has so we might well give it a go as he is in the autumn of his career. He belongs in these races so let’s go and have a look.”

Frere D’armes (Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Challenge Cup Handicap Chase)

“If he gets in he will run. I feel like he is an improved horse since Christmas. I’ve never got it right with him since he was second at Ascot behind Boothill, but I think it is all coming together. He is one that can’t travel and stay overnight as we took him to Ayr last season and Musselburgh and he didn’t perform."

Grey Dawning (Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase/Turners Novices’ Chase)

“There has been a lot written, and said, that he is going to the Brown Advisory, but both races are under consideration. I’m very much aware of the ground, and to some degree opposition. He would have won over an extended two and a half miles at Cheltenham in December, but he made a bad mistake at two out which stopped him winning.

“The horse that won that day, Ginny’s Destiny, who we were giving weight to, is favourite in some places for the Turners. If you only had the entry in the Turners I don’t think people would be thinking he can’t win that.

"There is no chance he will run in the Turners if it is good to soft as he would want it softer. If it was soft then the Turners very much comes into it. His first run at Exeter was a great run, and we knew he would improve a great deal from it, and he has. He has gone on to win a graduation chase easily before getting beaten at Cheltenham where only the mistake beat him and anyone who thinks otherwise is inaccurate.

“He bolted up back over three miles at Warwick where he beat a good field. He is in very good form, and he is working well at home. The track is not an issue as we have seen that already as he has acted around there and whichever race he goes for he is clearly going to be a massive player. I think the faster they go the better it will be as he is a high class horse.

“He handled Aintree fine and he went to Cheltenham in December and was fine. He is not a fretter. He is our big Grade One player.”

Jay Jay Reilly (Coral Cup Handicap Hurdle/Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle)

“If he runs it will be the Martin Pipe as he will favour New Course massively as it will happen too fast on the other track and that is what happened a little bit on his last run at Ascot. The ground was a bit quick and it all happened a bit quick. He is better off on slower ground.

“He won the Lanzarote and that run would give him a right chance in this. I think if the ground was soft we would give it a go."

Knickerbockerglory (County Handicap Hurdle)

“The plan is to go to the Imperial Cup, but he has his entry in the County Hurdle so it is not completely ruled out. No two mile handicap hurdle this season would be complete without either his entry or Faivoir’s.

He loves bad ground, and generally you don’t get much worse than how it can be at Sandown. When you win a race like he did at Ascot early in the season it is handy as it sets you up for the rest of the campaign.”

Langer Dan (Coral Cup Handicap Hurdle/Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle)

“People think we just turn him on for Cheltenham, but he is a terribly hard horse to train in the winter and I don’t know why. When you get him in those big fast run handicaps in the spring he just loves it.

"I would have loved him to take the next step and run him in a Stayers’ Hurdle as if he can win a Coral Cup off 141 he goes up to near 150 then you have a go in a graded race and you then become on the edge of a Stayers’ Hurdle horse, but he just won’t have it in the autumn and winter.

“We scoped him after his last run as he ran particularly bad, and we found out he had ulcers so we are treating him for them. I hope he just turns back up, but just because he is back off the same mark it’s still going to take a lot to do it. I presume he will run well in the Coral Cup, I’m only presuming he will but we will give it our best shot.”

L’eau Du Sud (County Handicap Hurdle)

“We ran him in the Greatwood where we really fancied him, but he didn’t go a yard and Harry (Skelton) said at the top of the hill he was completely empty, which we thought was very odd as he worked beautifully up to the race, however we later found out he had ulcers. The only concern about Newbury was if there was any psychological scars from Cheltenham, but luckily there wasn’t.

“He ran really well in the Betfair Hurdle and just got caught by a closer who is obviously a progressive horse in his own right. It was a competitive run and some good match practice for him which is everything you need going into the County Hurdle. I think he has got a great chance.”

Le Milos (Ultima Handicap Chase/Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle/TrustATrader Plate Handicap Chase)

“What to do with Le Milos is a good question, but I think the Pertemps Final could be the race for him. He ran very well the other day at Ascot and took a good blow. He has had a very interrupted season as he had surgery on a knee after the Grand National and it has just taken time for everything to get back together.

“I think at the moment all three races are options, but it is not an equal split as I would say it is 50 per cent Pertemps and 25 per cent the other two. I think he would have a squeak in the Pertemps because only so many horses qualify for it.

“I was very happy with the way he ran at Ascot and I think he will improve dramatically for it. I can say now he won’t be going for the Grand National afterwards."

Nurse Susan (Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle/Coral Cup Handicap Hurdle/Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle/Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle)

“She is two from two back over hurdles and she will go for the Martin Pipe. I think that the New Course is the best track for her. She hasn’t quite hit the numbers yet to run in a Mares’ Hurdle or Stayers’ Hurdle, however we hope we can get there next season.

“If you are getting weight from those at the top in a race like this then that is where you go. She doesn’t do a lot when she hits the front, but she can find her way through a race quite well and that is why the New Course suits her better.

“On the Old Course it would be a bit of a burn up. She needs things to unfold in front of her. As to who will ride her in the race I’m not sure yet.”

Playful Saint (County Handicap Hurdle)

“He could run in the County Hurdle. He has had a long time off, but he is working very well. He won very well at Leicester before the Imperial Cup last season and he could go here fresh.

"We have done a lot of work with him, and we will do a lot more work with him so it is not beyond the realms of possibility he goes there. It was a solid run in the Imperial Cup last season and he was then due to go to Aintree, but he got a small injury just before then which was highly frustrating as he is a good horse.”

Proschema (Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle)

“He has bundles of ability but he is not all that easy to train. He looks well, and is going as well as I’ve seen him. I would have loved to have got a run into him, but the ground has been horrific. I thought he might go and win the West Yorkshire Hurdle at Wetherby, but he had a hold up in the autumn. It hadn’t taken him longer than we thought to get him back as we were always going to aim for the spring as he wants better ground.”

Protektorat (Ryanair Chase)

“We are boldly going to give the Ryanair Chase a go. The thing with Protektorat is that he is maintaining his form well, but he is just getting beaten by horses that are just that bit better than him. Protektorat flits in and out of those Grade One races, despite winning a Betfair Chase very well. He has run in a Gold Cup and finished third and fifth, but he has just fallen short of that Gold Cup number.

"If you take the Gold Cup horses away he is one of the best horses out there. He has been second off a pretty high weight in a Paddy Power Gold Cup, along with being third in a Gold Cup and fifth in one. He did underperform in last season’s Cotswold Chase, but I had one eye on the Gold Cup at that point. We are doing things differently with him this season. We are training him a bit differently and running him a bit more, and he is holding his form.

"You could hardly say it has been a disappointing season following him around all the big venues picking up prizemoney. I think he will be bang there taking on different horses over this shorter trip.”

Royal Infantry (Weatherbys Champion Bumper)

“He will definitely get an entry in the Champion Bumper and it is not beyond the realms of possibility that he runs in it. I was thinking of going to Aintree after his last run as he has done his winning on flat tracks. He has seen his races out well and that leads you down the Aintree road. However, the only thing with Aintree is that it is a Grade Two and as he has won a Listed race he would have to give them a small penalty.

"The Cheltenham and Aintree bumper winners usually turn up having had one or two runs at not the bigger venues as they are waiting for their big day there. I’m not saying we can’t improve on Newbury, but the run at Newbury was a good one in its own right. There is no pressure on this horse. If he goes to Cheltenham there will be no long faces if he gets beat. He would cope with running in the Champion Bumper and he stays very well.”

Shan Blue (Ultima Handicap Chase/Ryanair Chase/TrustATrader Plate Handicap Chase)

“He goes for the Ultima. I’m particularly happy with his last run as I think he has come out of it really well. I think he is a horse that is going to have a massive chance. He is getting more runs under his belt now, which he hasn’t had for a while. The fact he can get those runs in and get himself competitive means he would have to be a player. He just took a long time to get over that fall at Wetherby.

"It was not so much that he lost his confidence his body just took a lot. He did actually break a bone in his neck, but you always saw that flame flickering in him. He would have some great days then some bad days and that is what I was dealing with last season. It just wouldn’t happen on track, but now we are seeing something. We thought he could win at Ascot and we rode him like that.

"We are going to be taking on the same sort of horses, and yes there might be one that has been hiding under a bushel in Ireland that has 10lbs in hand, but you can’t hide too much these days as you need a decent rating to get in. The trip will be no issue as he was staying on all the way to the line at Ascot.”

Unexpected Party (Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Challenge Cup Handicap Chase/Turners Novices’ Chase/ TrustATrader Plate Handicap Chase)

“He will go for the Grand Annual. It was frustrating that he didn’t get in the race last season as we then had to run him in the Turners where he probably out ran his odds. He was a novice for this season and he won a Listed race at Chepstow very well but the handicapper gave him a good hiding for it. He didn’t have a pound in hand, and he has been fighting the handicapper ever since. He is back to a more realistic mark now.

"What he does over two miles is he sees it out whereas over two and a half miles he is begging for the line. You have got to be a little more cautious with him as he is not a horse you can fire into everything like Calico, but there is not much between the pair of them."

West Balboa (Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle/Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle)

“I don’t know what to do with her. She will have a productive spring though as she is in great form. Maybe the truth is that she emptied the tank the first day at Aintree and she hasn’t been the same horse since. I think the reality is we will skip Cheltenham and go to Aintree fresh.

“Unfortunately you can’t pick your bad experiences and good experiences and hard races add up. Horses are like a set of car tyres as there is only so much tread on them. If you ride them fast and hard they will only last so long, but if you drive them steady they will last longer. All her ability and exuberance is still there.”

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