Dan Skelton: Cheltenham Festival Stable Tour including Protektorat, Langer Dan and Be Aware

Walking away with four winners from last year’s Cheltenham Festival was a real feather in the cap for Dan Skelton, but those achievements could be eclipsed after the Grade One-winning trainer admitted he will be taking his strongest ever team to the meeting.

Last year saw the Lodge Hill Stables fly the flag thanks to victories for Grey Dawning (Turners Novices’ Chase), Langer Dan (Coral Cup), Protektorat (Ryanair Chase) and Unexpected Party (Grand Annual).

With all of those above, bar Grey Dawning, set for a return to the meeting, together with the likes of exciting novice hurdler The New Lion, and lightly raced handicap hurdlers Be Aware and Valgrand on the team sheet, it is easy to see why Skelton has high expectations.

But while excited about what he intends to take to the four-day meeting, he is well aware that saddling the same number of Festival winners as he did 12 months ago, or potentially going one better, is not a given despite his levels of optimism.

Skelton said: “It is frightening to say it is better, but just because it is better that doesn’t mean you will have five winners because you had four last year. That is highly presumptuous and you can’t do that. I never thought we would have four winners last year and I was rude enough to think my best chance was on the Friday, and we got beat.

“I think we have got the best team we have ever had, but whether that bears out in the results will be a different matter. I think time will tell you this is the best team we have had with results beyond the Festival. We are in a great position. The staff and the owners have put us in the position we are in right now.

“I think our best chance overall is The New Lion. The handicapper I keep banging on about, if it all goes well for him, is Be Aware, and the dark horse is Fortune De Mer as he has been overlooked because of his defeat at Huntingdon."

Dan Skelton - 2025 Cheltenham Festival Team

Be Aware (Coral Cup)

I think the gallop at Huntingdon highlights that all horses are not as easy as Protektorat and The New Lion. He is mentally fragile and this time last year he had only run twice so he has come a long way in a year.

He was way too fresh at Huntingdon, but we had to get a day into him. He has done loads of work since and we will have him under control for the Festival. If he settles in that Coral Cup I think he has an outstanding chance. He ran so well in both of his handicap hurdles this year.

His best run was probably in the Greatwood Hurdle. We got to the tail of Burdett Road and he took off like a flat horse over two miles. With an extended trip I think that we can negate that. To me, he is an ideal candidate for the race. He has got to settle in the race, but I think he will.

He has been okay settling in those two races to date, but I think he can be better. I think if you run in the County Hurdle you open yourself up to a speedier one, like a Burdett Road. I think it is the correct decision to go for the Coral Cup.

Catch Him Derry (Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle)

He is likely to be our main throw of the dice in the Pertemps Final. He won a qualifier at Exeter, and because he won that he will get in. Even if he is 45th on the list he will get in as it is a win and you're in qualification now.

He wasn't quite right in behind after Haydock Park and he pulled himself up a bit. At Cheltenham I don’t think he was that fit. I thought I had done loads with him, but clearly not. He improved fitness-wise from Cheltenham to Exeter. He will have a nice racing weight and if the ground is soft I could see him running a nice race.

Calico (Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Handicap Chase)

He is entered in the Grand Annual, but he will run at Doncaster next Saturday and we will see how that goes first before we make a decision on whether we go for the Grand Annual or not with him.

Dalston Lad (Weatherbys Champion Bumper)

He is two from two and he is a real tough horse and I think he will see out very well. I couldn’t say hand on heart that he smacks you in the face as a Champion Bumper horse, but he is a horse that will really see it out well.

Doyen Quest (Coral Cup/Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle)

At the start of the season he looked really well handicapped and he looked a progressive horse. If you would have said to me at that point I would have said he was a short-priced fancy for the Pertemps, but it hasn’t quite worked out that way.

It looks like he has stayed three miles since he did that day at Cheltenham. I think a drop back in trip will suit him. I think he is most likely to run in the Martin Pipe.

Fortune De Mer (Weatherbys Champion Bumper)

The one that would have our best chance in the Champion Bumper is Fortune De Mer. He will have been overlooked now as he was fourth at Huntingdon. If you watch the race back he didn’t stop pulling until he turned into the straight. He is a little bit like Be Aware, as he was a little bit too keen, and full of his own ideas. I needed to get him to Huntingdon and have a run. I couldn’t trust him to go straight to Cheltenham. Normally I would go straight to Cheltenham with a horse like that, but I can’t with him as I just knew what he would do.

He is going back to Cheltenham, at a track where he won at, and where he looked very good to be honest with you. Ground is irrelevant to him, but the speed of the race in a Champion Bumper will really suit him. I can give him an each-way chance in that for sure.

Grey Dawning (Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup)

I think he had recovered from the Haydock Park race (Betfair Chase) to go to Kempton, but what I think happened at Kempton Park was that he made the mistake at the first, which put us on the back foot.

The speed Il Est Francais went made the three milers look like four milers and that put us all on the backfoot a bit, not least us as we had made the mistake at the first. It was just one of those days that didn’t work out for him, but we put it in the bin and he came out of it fine.

The idea at the moment is to go to Kelso (for the bet365 Premier Chase) and then on to Aintree. I will leave him in the Gold Cup just in case something untoward happens to the opposition, but I don’t wish that upon them. The Gold Cup picture is a little muddy behind the favourite, and that is because of the strength of the favourite in my opinion. With the favourite being in there it is still super hard to win. Yes the second and third still look like being up for grabs. Maybe I would have looked at this race a little differently at Haydock Park, but we didn’t so we are not.

I feel like if we go to Kelso and Aintree it gives us two chances of running this spring, rather than one as if he ran in the Gold Cup, that would be the only race he could run in as he can’t go to Sandown or Punchestown as they are right handed.

We need to do what is right for the horse short and long term. I think in the short term we give ourselves winning these races and long term maybe we get some more experience and come back as a Gold Cup contender next year. Of course I’m disappointed not to be going for a Gold Cup with a horse that I thought I would be, but things change and you have to be open with horses.

He is in great form and looks outstanding. I think he will take a lot of beating at Kelso. If things go well at Kelso he will turn up at Aintree in the best possible shape he can.

Gwennie May Boy (Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle)

I’m not quite sure if we are going to run Gwennie May Boy. The handicapper has encouraged me not to run as he has put him up 10lbs. When you are going well you have got to aim high. I think the right thing to do with him is go to Aintree for a Grade One as he won at the track last year.

I was a bit disappointed in the early part of the season, but when I got the horse last year he only ran in the spring and maybe the fact is he is a spring horse.

Harper’s Brook (Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Handicap Chase)

We will run him in the Grand Annual as long as Saturday at Chepstow goes well. To be fair Kielan (Woods) did a fair crack on him at Wetherby. He is a funny horse.

You can’t drop him into to far as he can’t get to them and you can put him too far forward too early as he starts to fade. He is a character, but he is good. I’m delighted we have won with him. I think he will run very well tomorrow.

Joyeux Machin (Coral Cup)

He ran really well the other day. He hasn’t qualified for the Pertemps, which would be the absolute perfect race for him. He is entered in the Coral Cup and we will have a look at that, but he would want it to be very soft.

He could be a horse to go on the Saturday to Uttoxeter for that race that Gwennie May Boy won last year and then we could go to Aintree with him. I’ve been really taken by how he has got his act together as he is a new horse to us. We ran him at Cheltenham twice, once against Constitution Hill picking up prize money.

It is all starting to come together for him. Maybe that is as much as he has got, what we saw at Ascot the other day, but I think the step up to three miles we could see a little bit more.

Keops Des Bordes (Weatherbys Champion Bumper)

He was second to No Drama This End of Paul Nicholls. I see him as a long-term chaser, and a very good horse at that. I don’t think he is going to come to any disadvantage of going around Cheltenham at a young age as for a big horse he is very balanced.

I think he can get a lot of experience from a race like that. If the ground was very soft I could see him running very well as he is full of ability.

Langer Dan (Coral Cup/Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle)

It has been disastrous and he has run terribly, but I did tell everyone that is highly likely. I think everyone is now starting to believe there is a lot of truth in what I say as it is what I feel. He is impossible to train. I have to say he is not going very well at the moment, but we just hope that he turns up.

The first Coral Cup I believed it was possible. The second Coral Cup the closer I got to the day the more I thought it was possible, and probable, but realistically it was still on trust.

We will be turning up at the Cheltenham Festival with him. He will be running in the Stayers’ Hurdle I’m sure as he can’t give all that weight away in the Coral Cup. We just entered him in it (the Coral Cup) as it gives us a bit longer to see and think. The reality is we have always been going down the Stayers’ Hurdle route. He hasn’t run well, or been working well, and he will go to the Stayers’ Hurdle on trust.

L’Eau du Sud (My Pension Expert Arkle Novices’ Chase)

He has done nothing wrong over fences and he is four from four. We always expected him to be a much better chaser than a hurdle, but as a hurdler he was hardly disappointing. He was placed in a lot of decent handicaps and was second in a Betfair Hurdle and a County Hurdle. I still don’t know how he got beat in that County Hurdle. Even though we had four winners last season I still went into the Friday I thought we had our best chance of the week to make it five.

He has gone chasing this season and he hasn’t looked back. He has got course form, if the ground is soft he can get away with it, if it is better that will suit him better. He can drop in or he can make the running. He is very versatile. He has got those extra runs and there is nothing I don’t like about his chances for this race.

He is a good enough hurdler to win an Arkle. Sometimes you look at Arkle runners and they weren’t good enough hurdlers to win an Arkle. We need to be a good hurdler to have a chance of winning this race, and I think we are just good enough. He has improved dramatically as a chaser, but we have a lot of respect for Majborough. I really like this horse and I think he will make it look closer than the prices have it.

I didn’t use fitness as an excuse on the day at Warwick as I knew we had him fairly fit, but I always thought he would improve for Warwick. He was fit enough to go and win that day. What I thought was fairly impressive about this horse was the way he jumped. From three out until the last he put good distance on a very good horse, who was a 149 rated hurdler, and jumped well on the day. After jumping the last Harry just shook him up and a bit of company did him now harm. The way he jumps this horse and the authority at how he put distance between everyone from three out until the last is the most taking bit for me at Warwick.

The ground was against him at Sandown in the Henry VIII, but he was very good and he put them away that day even though he wasn’t his best on the ground. He is versatile, he has course form and he is riding the crest of a wave. There is not much I don’t like.

I don't necessarily think it will be the difference, but It is a box ticked having that course form. The best he was this season was when he was at Cheltenham in November when he got a lead and he could quicken up off a pace as he looked very good that day. The one thing you can’t make up is talent, and obviously Majborough has an unbelievable amount of talent, and I’ve a lot of respect for him. I think it will be another great race. I’ve a lot of faith in our horse.

Live Conti (JCB Triumph Hurdle)

He came when he came and we couldn’t get him earlier than we did. Ultimately, you have got to look after these horses. Maybe, one day we will win a Triumph Hurdle, but if we do it will be with a horse we have got in the spring, rather than the autumn.

With Live Conti I see him as a long term horse. I see him as a Protektorat type. I won’t be in a mad rush to find out what he can.

I think if he goes to Aintree he has a real chance. There are only 19 days between those two races (Triumph Hurdle and 4-Y-0 Anniversary Hurdle) and I think it is going to be hard for those four year-olds to back up 19 days later from Cheltenham. He will go there a fresh horse, and from what I’ve seen, he will be one of the ones to beat at Aintree.

Nurse Susan (Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle/Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle)

You will probably see her in the Martin Pipe. I haven’t had long enough to get her ready for the Mares’ Hurdle. She is a very talented mare. I think under normal circumstances I would give her a massive chance, but I’ve not had enough time with her. I’ve not had any hold-ups, but when she started back I’ve just been a bit against it. I think she will run well, but she will improve.

Panic Attack (TrustATrader Plate Handicap Chase)

She will definitely run in the Plate. She is in the Mares’ Chase as well, but I think that is biting off too much at this point. I think she is a better horse over fences, and I think that little bit further trip will help her. She ran well over two miles and three furlongs over hurdles at Warwick the other day when she just got beat.

She ran a race that she should have done. She ran a race where she should have been competitive and she should have been bang up there, without being a certainty. I think that was about a par run for what we were expecting. I think if she was running over fences that day she would have been a short-priced favourite, and we would have expected her to win.

It is a very strong statement to say I think she will win a Plate, but I do think she will be a player. I think a return to fences will suit her well. I don’t think Cheltenham will be an issue as she has been around there a few times. You need luck in running in a Plate though.

Protektorat (Ryanair Chase)

He got the start of an infection in a back leg last night and you wouldn’t believe there was a problem this morning which shows you how tough this horse is. I was worried I wouldn’t be able to show him this morning and that we would have to give him a few easy days. He is absolutely fine and he will go to Warwick later today for a gallop.

We are very lucky to have Protektorat. Not only is his talent what it is, but his resolution and desire is top quality. I think that is what gives him the ability to run so well in these races and why he has got the longevity he has. He will head back for the Ryanair, which is his only entry. I think he has got a great chance.

In the Paddy Power he had a lot of weight and he probably needed the run more than we thought. I always knew that we were going to get into a bit of a row in the Peterborough Chase going right handed, but I hoped it would be different, but I sort of expected it to work out the way it did.

Maybe, we rode him wrong that day. Maybe we should have jumped out in front and cracked on and the right handedness might not have made such a difference. The end of his season was always going to be better than his start and we were always going to be aiming him at Windsor. He did what he did there and I thought he looked absolutely sensational, the best I’ve ever seen him to be honest. He heads there as an older horse this year, but no lesser horse. Of course there are new challenges as we have attacks from France and Ireland, but with him he will run his best race and I’m not worried about that at all.

Last year he beat Envoi Allen who had won all those Grade Ones, and danced every dance, and he had won at the Festival three times before and he went away from him and beat him four lengths in the end so there wasn’t a lot wrong with that performance.

It would be nice to think there is an extra performance in the locker. If he has anymore to give he will give it in three weeks time as he hasn’t ever been this well, he is incredible. He is a credit to himself and everyone around to have had him in this shape for this long. We trained him differently at the back end of last year, and this year. We have put him in some rubber shoes because as a young horse he was very keen and the back leg would come through and strike the back of his elbow. We found shoeing him differently and training him differently has helped him out.

I think that helped us last spring to win the Ryanair and I think all these different bits and pieces have helped his longevity. I think doing things differently has really suited him. As a sportsman, and I’m not just saying this because it would suit me, but I would love to see him run in the Champion Chase going full bore as it would be very interesting. I think he is going to run in the Ryanair, and he will be very hard to beat.

I think if Fact To File goes there he will be hard to beat, but they will look at us and say he is the reigning champion, who has done nothing wrong, and he will be hard to beat. It is great we have all this to look forward to.

Santos Blue (Coral Cup)

He is entered in the Coral Cup having won last time at Newbury. I think it is more likely he will run on the Saturday at Uttoxeter. If he did run it would need to be soft ground. Ben (Sutton) gets on well with him, and he takes weight off his back as well, which is useful. I think going to Uttoxeter is more likely.

Take No Chances (Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle)

She could be a massive price or she could start second favourite for the race depending on what her opposition is. She is not completely ground dependent, but if it got very soft I would have to consider it. Good to soft, soft in places is no problem at all. It is not impossible she goes off second favourite behind a horse she actually beat (Kargese).

She has won a Listed race over two miles and a Grade Two over two miles, which is highly unpredictable from the start of the season as I was running her in June over three miles, which I’ve got to ask myself what was I doing, but she was still winning thank God. She has just grown in confidence. She has a great outlook. She is a beautiful mare and she is very honest. She tries hard and she loves jumping and loves racing. She would race every fortnight for you if you let her. I think she goes there with a real chance. She will keep running and stay on all the way to the line. She will give her best you can guarantee that with her.

If those big two turn up (Brighterdaysahead and Lossiemouth) we will be scrapping it out for a place, but if they don’t and it turns into a bit of a fight it is not beyond the realms of possibility that she will be at the business end. I’m surprised she has won over two miles as I think two and a half miles is definitely better, and like I say she has been getting three miles.

I think she is a player. Some horses you can rely on, and some horses have bad days, but this mare never has a bad day. You can rely on her and she will run her race for you. She is a placepot bettor's dream. If you get these mares on a roll, and they keep on improving, you don’t know where they will end up and she is very much like that. What I do know is however good she is on the day she will give it you all. She is a great mare to have on the team. I know she is perhaps not one of the bigger lights like Brighterdaysahead or Lossiemouth, but put it this way if she has a sniff of a chance she will take it.

The New Lion (Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle/Turners Novices’ Hurdle)

As you can see he looks outstanding. I think this horse’s coat is one of the most forward out of all of them. He looks great and you love to see him bright like this. I took him to Huntingdon the other day for a canter around and a day out, but this is what I love about him that energy. He is happy, healthy and bright. I love all this about him.

When we took him to Huntingdon he was like this when he came off the lorry. He walked around the paddock full of exuberance and happiness. He is never a horse that pulls in the race, or in work, he is never going to boil over, or do it the wrong way.

He is going to be going for the Turners, unless the ground was very soft, or heavy, in which case we could switch to the Supreme, but in reality he is going for the Turners.

I love everything about him. If you ask Harry (Skelton) he will tell you he loves the way he is to ride. If you want to go inside, you can go inside, if you want to go outside, you can go outside. If you want to go a bit quicker, you can go a bit quicker and if you want to go slower you can do that as well. He can do it all. What is very unusual about this horse is that as a yearling, or a two year old, he had a haematoma and when it healed it calcified. It is now actually bone, which is very unusual, but it makes no difference at all to him.

I’m just delighted with him and he is training well. It has gone beautifully. We really liked him before he ran in his bumper, and we liked him even more after. When we started schooling him on the grass in the autumn he did something other horses couldn’t do at that point. His brain and ability was all for there to see. He has just got that relaxed, easy way about him. At home he is not a quick horse and when you work him at home you actually have to get into him a bit and he doesn’t work at home like he looks on the track. I know that when you start squeezing that fight is there. I say bring them on as I’m not worried about them with him. What will be, will be. If we get beat, we get beat, but I’m super happy with this horse.

I don’t want to start worrying about next year in a presumptuous manner, but I can see him coming back in trip and I don’t ever see us going to three miles unless results dictate that is the way we have to go.

Valgrand (William Hill County Hurdle)

If you would have said to me at Christmas time would he have had much of a chance in a County Hurdle I would have said at a push. The difference in him since the weather has started to turn, and the days are getting longer, is that his coat has started to turn. You can see how bright he is and it is all just starting to come together. He is in a handicap hurdle and of course it is going to be hard. He was very good at the October meeting in a two mile Graded race as he absolutely bolted in. He got put in his place by Potters Charm over two miles and five furlongs, which I don’t think is any disrespect, and then he couldn’t carry big weights in bad ground afterwards.

He can’t really have been at his best after having those hard races. It all feels like it is just starting to come together a little bit. He has got ability. The ground would need to be nice for him to be a competitor. If it was really soft ground on the Friday then I would say we would be in a spot of bother, but if it dried out I could see him being a contender.

A lot of this is going on how we are feeling with him getting closer to the day. He feels better all the time and the work is getting better. It is just starting to happen a bit. I was very surprised how he won at Cheltenham in October. I thought he could win as I thought he was good horse going into it. I didn’t expect that exuberance and attack.

Really what won it for him that day was probably the first six hurdles and not the last two. He had them cooked by the top of the hill, but it is not going to be like that in a County Hurdle as you are around horses that can jump at speed. The fact that he can do that he can save a little bit coming down the hill. He has not had loads of racing since Christmas and he is a fresh horse. If you look back through our previous County Hurdle winners a lot of them hadn’t run in that calendar year beforehand.

I did say to everyone at the October meeting we need to see that once more and that is why we are going for a County Hurdle and not a Supreme Novices’ Hurdle. Now we are getting closer to the race I’m starting to think we have a contender. He shapes up pretty equally to our previous winners of the race.

Unexpected Party (Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Handicap Chase)

He won the race last year and he will go back there. He looks great. He got back to a bit of form the last day when he finished second at Windsor. It was a much better run, and something we needed to see, as there had been no flashes of light really up until that point.

He is working really well now so I think he goes there with an each-way chance. I think it will be harder this year than last year, as he is off a higher mark. Last year everything went right and I walked away thinking everything went right for that horse, how is it going to go so right again.

It has got to go so right again off a 6lb higher mark. He is a year older, and it ain’t going to be easy. The fire is certainly starting to burn. He has always been going back there, but at the same time he could follow the good horses around like Jonbon in the winter to pick up good prize money, but it just hasn’t happened.

More Cheltenham Festival Stable Tours

• Nicky Henderson
• Paul Nicholls
• Jonjo & AJ O'Neill
• Willie Mullins

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