Dan Skelton targets Trainers' Championship battle with Paul Nicholls

By Sporting Life

Horse Racing

Thu March 21, 2024 · 9M ago

Dan Skelton has a long held ambition to be crowned Champion Trainer and is looking forward to a battle with his former mentor Paul Nicholls.

Skelton has started the spring in rare form, leaving the Cheltenham Festival with four winners and that form continued into Saturday with an across-the-cards treble at Kempton and Uttoxeter.

Those victories saw him leapfrog Nicholls at the top of the table with Skelton's prize money tally standing at £2,496,981 to Nicholls' £2,439,499.

When interviewed on Luck On Sunday, Skelton was refusing to get ahead of himself with a lot of the season still to run and responded with a smile: "It's a long way out to poke the bear isn't it? Six weeks."

Skelton spent nine years working for Nicholls at his Ditcheat yard and host Nick Luck asked if he had spoken to the Somerset handler about the title race; he revealed he had and that Nicholls had responded with:

"Are you ready for a battle boy?"

Skelton continued: "First and foremost from my perspective it's a privilege to be in this position. It is something I'd love to do and we're in this position because of everyone who has helped us get here. I've got a lot of support, just like Paul has.

"We've got a lot of horses to run. A lot will hinge on Aintree, Ayr and the last day of the season at Sandown; we've got some horses for those and we'll just be doing our best. We've roughed a few off after Cheltenham and some novices before that but those that will be going to the festivals will be and I suppose there will be a little bit more of a spotlight on them because of it.

"We'll try and keep you entertained and we'll try and maintain our composure throughout it."

Speaking after saddling a winner at Kempton yesterday Skelton provided an update on his four Festival winners, saying: “They are all really good.

"Langer Dan just has a little infection in a leg and all the other winners are good. Langer Dan is fine by the way, it is just something that is mentionable.

“Grey Dawning will probably run at three miles, Protektorat will have the option of two (races) and I would love to step Langer Dan up to Grade One company. Unexpected Party will have a heap of entries and we will see what’s best.”

Asked this morning to reflect on a successful week, he replied: "I personally feel very tired!

"It was just a cauldron of emotions, I don't really know what I was feeling at any time. I remember being there when Langer Dan won and thought to myself 'remember this, remember what it feels like' because sometimes you walk away from there and you can't even remember what it was like because you get so caught up and so full of adrenaline.

"The one thing I feel most of all is pride, so proud of what the horses and the team have achieved and so proud to watch Harry ride them like he did. In a normal year he perhaps would have been leading rider and I might have been leading trainer in a normal year but when Willie Mullins is around anything is but normal I'm afraid."

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