Dan Skelton Stable Tour

Form profile

129-rated hurdler. Was scoring for the fourth time this season when beating Alentejo by five lengths in a 3m ½f handicap hurdle at Newbury earlier this month off a mark of 124.

Trainer says

I think he is favourite for the Martin Pipe and he has had a great year, and we have run him regularly. He thrives off racing and comes here off the back of his best ever run. The track will suit him and there is a lot to like. He is getting better.

Form profile

139-rated hurdler. Improving staying hurdler who returned to winning form when scoring by half a length from Onewaywest in a Pertemps qualifier at Huntingdon (3m 1f) in January off a mark of 134, having previously chased home subsequent Grade 2 Cleeve Hurdle winner Ma Shantou in a 3m handicap hurdle at Cheltenham on New Year’s Day off a mark of 130.

Trainer says

Ace Of Spades has had a phenomenal year and won a Pertemps Qualifier at Huntingdon. He has really learnt to stay three miles properly. I have been happy with his work and the better the ground the better his chance. He is higher than he has ever been, but he is the best he has ever been. I think he will run well in the race.

Form profile

147-rated chaser. Has been running in high-class novice company and has finished runner-up in his last three starts, which included a nine-and-a-half-length defeat at the hands of Lulamba in the Grade 1 Henry VIII Novices’ Chase at Sandown (1m 7½f) in December and when beaten a length by No Questions Asked in a Grade 2 novices’ chase at Windsor (2m) in January.

Trainer says

He runs in the Grand Annual and is in great form. We took him to Huntingdon last year for a racecourse gallop before the Coral Cup which was a disaster and we have kept him at home and taken him to the grass gallop a few times. He is really ready and the signs he has given us are that he is high class without being an Arkle contender and the Grand Annual is the right race to go for. Hopefully, there will be a couple of front runners in the race, and we will try and sit off them a bit. The Windsor run is potentially one that got a way - he is a free horse and Harry’s then trying to run a bit more conservatively in the race and actually might have been better kicking on.

Form profile

151-rated chaser. Best effort this season came when finishing third, beaten two and a quarter lengths, behind Edwardstone in the Grade 2 Silviniaco Conti Chase at Kempton (2m 4½f) in January.

Trainer says

He is one of four of ours in the Plate, but I think the handicapper has him too high. The only thing he has in his armoury is that he knows how to run well in these types of races.

Form profile

134-rated hurdler. Has won his last two starts over hurdles, scoring by a length and a quarter from Starzand at Ffos Las (2m) in January and then by 13 lengths over Doujadou at Chepstow (2m) earlier this month.

Trainer says

He is one of two I have in the Turners. He has bolted up twice over hurdles, and I think he is high class. He doesn’t carry a graded event into the race like some of the other, but he is clearly a very good horse. It will be interesting to see how he runs - I couldn’t honestly tell you how good he is.

Form profile

153-rated chaser. Made a winning reappearance in a handicap chase at Cheltenham (2m) in October when scoring by five lengths over Jasko Des Dames off a mark of 142 and followed up with a two-and-a-quarter-length victory over Martator in a 2m 1f handicap chase at Ascot in November off a mark of 149. Subsequently finished fourth, beaten 13½ lengths, behind Lulamba in the Grade 2 Game Spirit Chase at Newbury (2m ½f) earlier this month.

Trainer says

He will run in the Grand Annual and has been absolutely brilliant. I am very proud of what he has achieved, this year especially, and he doesn’t get any younger but his tenacity for racing and the desire to do it is great. We may claim off him in the Grand Annual. He won’t be a short price, but he knows how to run in those big races.

Form profile

Made a winning debut in a bumper at Doncaster in January when beating Elderflower Tonic by 10 lengths.

Trainer says

He would only run in the Champion Bumper if the ground came up properly soft. He put up a great performance at Doncaster and stayed on really well that day. He is one of the leading English prospects on numbers.

Form profile

166-rated chaser. Made a winning reappearance in the Grade 1 Betfair Chase at Haydock (3m 1½f) in November when beating Royale Pagaille by two and three-quarter lengths. Subsequently finished third, beaten five lengths, behind Spillane’s Tower in the Grade 2 Cotswold Chase at Cheltenham (3m 1½f) in January.

Trainer says

I am very proud to call him our Gold Cup runner - it is a very interesting race for lots or reasons, and the race has really yet to take shape with possible last-minute entries and all sorts. This horse is in the best form of his life, and we have been patient to some degree to get him into this form. It was fairly obvious last year that after Haydock when he got beaten on very soft ground that it was going to be very hard to get him back. We weren’t going to be going down the Gold Cup route last year and ask him some lesser questions. He was very good at Kelso and ran a beautiful race at Aintree behind Gaelic Warrior. This year was very different, and he was very imperious in the Betfair at Haydock which on numbers he should have been capable of on that ground. He ran a nice race in the Cotswold Chase and had lot of improvement from there. The improvement has arrived and we are really ready. He will be there turning in and if he is good enough from there we will find out. He stayed three miles two in the Betfair, and he has won at the course and is versatile on the ground as long as it isn’t heavy. He is rideable and he goes a little bit left-handed so is going the right way around. He is going to improve massively from the Cheltenham run and I just have a good feeling we are going there the best we can be.

Form profile

154-rated hurdler. Has won his two starts since joining the stable, scoring by 12 lengths over Andashan in a 2m 3f handicap hurdle at Haydock in November off a mark of 140 before following up with a five-and-a-half-length victory over Jingko Blue in the Grade 2 Relkeel Hurdle at Cheltenham (2m 4½f) on New Year’s Day.

Trainer says

We are going to run in the Stayers Hurdle, as long as the ground isn’t brutal. With the long-range forecast, I would hope it wouldn’t be, and we have been very cautious with our approach and waited for the springtime with him. We always have the best interests of the horse at heart, and it was our intention to go to Fontwell last week and then go onto Aintree. It was obvious Fontwell was going to be called off and I am very happy to step him up to three miles and think it will suit him but what we don’t want to do is go there on bad ground and give him an unnecessarily hard race as this horse has a future that we can enjoy with seasons to come. He is going to be held up and come off the pace and if the ground is good to soft, I think we have a potential asset in his turn of foot. He is quite a light-framed horse and a distance horse, and I feel he is getting better as he relaxes in his races.

Form profile

141-rated hurdler. Made a winning reappearance in a Listed mares’ hurdle at Wetherby (2m) in November, when beating Golden Ace by 28 lengths, but has failed to add to that victory in four starts since.

Trainer says

She is going to run in the Coral Cup - the Langer Dan Cup! She definitely has a chance, and it was a nice run the other day at Ascot. She started the season well when winning a Listed race at Wetherby when Golden Ace was poorly. She started well and then got a bit lost, but with the longer days, the sun in the air, some better ground and now into a handicap with 11 stone not 12 stone, it is slightly coming together.

Form profile

163-rated chaser. Made a winning reappearance when beating Jonbon by 15 lengths in the Grade 2 Shloer Chase at Cheltenham (2m) in November. Subsequently finished third, beaten 18 lengths, behind Il Etait Temps in the Grade 1 Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown (1m 7½f) in December.

Trainer says

He had a fantastic start to the year, and I was blown away by his Shloer performance, but that race was probably accentuated by three factors; one, he was very ready; two, he is brilliant when very fresh; and three, Jonbon obviously wasn’t cherry ripe that day. You have to temper your enthusiasm for that performance, but I also think what you saw at Sandown wasn’t realistic either. At Sandown he wasn’t fresh, and we had trained him quite hard for Cheltenham for the Shloer Chase, and so he wasn’t quite at his best. The mistake I made last year was running in the Kingmaker at Warwick and not going straight for the Arkle, and we were sure not to make the same mistake this year. He went to Liz Hales’s after he ran at Sandown for three weeks. She turned him out, freshened him up, and he now looks brilliant and has been very good since he came back. He went to Warwick for an away day and it’s now all systems go. He jumped this morning, Harry rode him, and he went very nicely. We can give him a little more work this week, and I would say we will be spot on for the Queen Mother.

Form profile

140-rated chaser. Finished runner-up, beaten six and a half lengths, to Issam in a 2m 4½f handicap chase at Kempton earlier this month off his current mark.

Trainer says

He will run in the Plate, and I think the handicapper hasn’t got him too high. He is coming at a slightly different angle and is less exposed and coming in a fresh horse. He ran well at Kempton the other day. The track really suits him and he has a chance.

Form profile

118-rated hurdler. Off the mark in a 2m ½f mares’ maiden hurdle at Doncaster in December, when beating Laysoft by 10 lengths, and followed up with a two-and-a-quarter-length success over Lord in the Listed Scottish Triumph Hurdle at Musselburgh (1m 7½f) in January.

Trainer says

I would love to get her in the Fred Winter, but I might struggle.

Form profile

136-rated hurdler. A winner of his only hurdle start in France in September and has won both starts since joining the stable. Scored by nine and a half lengths over Brave Guest at Kempton (2m) in December before following up with a two-length victory over One Horse Town in a Grade 2 juvenile hurdle at Cheltenham (2m 1f) in January.

Trainer says

He is a lovely horse - we have had some nice juveniles over the time and the obvious one that stands out is Allmankind. He did it on ability and on the fact that he wants to do it so desperately. This horse is a different type and is full of talent and a little more rideable and manageable. I feel like this horse can be more long term - he is a little more relaxed but did do a little too much halfway around on trials day. Harry had to wait on him to relax before he came home very strongly. I think he has an exceptional ability in that he did two very different things - he went round Kempton decent ground and showed a lot of toe and went around Cheltenham over extended two miles on soft ground and also won. It is a great thing to have that versatility and not many have that. He has course form, his training has been exceptional, and his work has only got better and better. I feel he is one of our best chances of the meeting in the Triumph.

Form profile

Winner of two APQS races in France, the latest at Lyon-Parilly in October.

Trainer says

She is the one Harry is likely to ride in the Champion Bumper. She has a big reputation in France, and I don’t know if four-year-olds have ever won this race, but she gets 17lb upwards helping that happen. Her work is very good, and she won graded APQS bumpers.

Form profile

135-rated hurdler. Placed in all three of her French hurdle starts at Auteuil when trained by Francois Nicolle.

Trainer says

She runs in the Ryanair Mares’ Hurdle and is a mare with a big reputation. She ran some good races in some big races in Auteuil, and she jumps very well, settles, and is obviously very good. She has a mark of 135 for a Juvenile filly which is super high and she gets 9lb for being a four-year-old. That would be a pretty high mark in this race.

Form profile

125-rated hurdler. Opened his account on his second outing for the stable in a 2m novices’ hurdle at Ludlow earlier this month when beating Dartmouth Castle by two lengths.

Trainer says

He got his act together last time at Ludlow and won quite nicely. He was way too keen at Ludlow, and he has some nice French form. He could be ridden negatively and really come home. He isn’t without a chance in the Fred Winter.

Form profile

133-rated hurdler. Winner of his last two starts over hurdles, beating Step Ahead by seven lengths in a 2m 5f maiden at Warwick in December before following up with a three-quarter length success over They Call Me Hugo in a 3m novice hurdle at Windsor in January.

Trainer says

Moneygarrow is potentially being overlooked in the Albert Bartlett. He did very well last time out over three miles at Windsor. He has the perfect running style for the race in my opinion. Historically, it’s won by horses that have had lots of runs, and he doesn’t quite drop into that category, but I do like the way he races. He will come home strongly and he is a contender.

Form profile

139-rated hurdler. Impressed when beating Harbour Island by four and a half lengths in a 2m 1f maiden hurdle at Carlisle in November and when comfortably seeing off Kosac D’Oudairies by seven lengths at Haydock (1m 7½f) in December. Subsequently finished runner-up, beaten three and a quarter lengths, to Idaho Sun in the Grade 1 Formby Novices’ Hurdle at Aintree (2m 1f) on Boxing Day.

Trainer says

He started his career well in a bumper at Huntingdon last year and I have been delighted with how he transferred to hurdles this year. I feel like I could have done things a little differently in the build up to the Formby and I think you will see a better horse in the Supreme. I don’t want to lose sight of the fact that one, this is a great race, and two, I feel like Aintree wasn’t our day and that Idaho Sun has very strong form. I think this horse is coming into the sort of form we need him to be in and better form than in Aintree. The biggest factor with this horse is that he was four going into five this year, but if he were five going into six, I genuinely think he would have won at Aintree. We were always going to go from Aintree to Cheltenham and nothing in between and I think he will put up a career best on the first Tuesday and whether that is good enough or not we will find out. Physically, this horse is a strong horse and a different type to The New Lion - he is slightly smaller and more furnished - this horse you can see screams as being a bit of a chaser and I have already alluded to him being an Arkle horse next year. He still has a lot to learn but is very high class. He was very hot walking around when we took him for a gallop at Warwick last week and we are going to declare him with a red hood on him.

Form profile

140-rated hurdler. Finished fourth, beaten 18 lengths, behind Potters Charm in the Grade 2 National Spirit Hurdle at Fontwell (2m 3f) earlier this month.

Trainer says

She did run badly the other day, but I think she was maybe in season. Things didn’t quite work out for her on a tightish track, and she had been in the great form. I think she will run a very big race in the Martin Pipe.

Form profile

147-rated chaser. Has won her three chases this season in great style, first scoring by four lengths over Vincenzo in the Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham (2m 4f) in November, then winning the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury (3m 2f) in November by six and a half lengths over Three Card Brag, and most recently landing a Listed mares’ chase at Newbury (2m 7½f) by 14 lengths over Molto Bene.

Trainer says

We are going to the Mares’ Chase with her. She would be one of our best chances of the week. She is in unbelievable form, and I don’t know what happened with her this year. I don’t know why she is that good, but she just loves racing and I wouldn’t mind betting that her Listed race at Newbury was her best run even though she had a fairly straightforward task the way she did it and the feel she gave Harry. Her form at home has been great and she looks great. Whatever beats her will win - I’m super happy with her and I’m looking forward to her.

Form profile

133-rated hurdler. Gained his second success of the season when beating Four Springs by five lengths in a 2m 3f novices’ hurdle at Warwick last week. Previously finished third, beaten eight and three-quarter lengths, behind Act Of Innocence in the Listed Sidney Banks Hurdle at Huntingdon (2m 3½f) earlier this month.

Trainer says

He will run in the County Hurdle. It was a bit of an 11th hour decision. He got beaten by Act Of Innocence in the Listed Sidney Banks at Huntingdon and what annoyed us was that this horse appeared to be playing and not concentrating. There is a lot to come from this horse and when he engages, he will be better. The least it will do is educate him but off his mark we might be dealing with a child in a man’s race, but you never know.

Form profile

131-rated hurdler. Finished third, beaten 18 lengths, behind Old Park Star in the Grade 2 Rossington Main Novices’ Hurdle at Haydock (1m 7½f) in January.

Trainer says

He will be my other runner in the Turners. I think he has been overlooked a little and he was third to Old Park Star at Haydock. I think two and a half will suit him and has to make it up in numbers but could well do.

Form profile

135-rated hurdler. Best effort since joining the stable came when finishing third, beaten five and a quarter lengths, behind Ma Shantou in a 3m handicap hurdle at Cheltenham on his season reappearance in October off a mark of 137.

Trainer says

He also runs in the Pertemps, and I wouldn’t say I would have had this race in mind all season, as I toyed with the idea of whether he didn’t quite stay, but I definitely think he does get three miles. I would think he would have the best chance.

Form profile

145-rated hurdler. Finished third, beaten a length and a half, behind Potters Charm in a valuable 2m 4f conditions hurdle at Windsor (2m 4f) in January.

Trainer says

She will run in the Mares’ Hurdle. I was third in the race last year and has been campaigned to run a better race as we have kept a race away from her and ran once less than last year. She will be more suited by the New Course on the Thursday, and she has to come up again Wodhooh, and maybe Lossiemouth amongst others, but she will ensure they run an honest race. She is super consistent and will go very well.

Form profile

134-rated hurdler. Finished third, beaten two lengths, behind Push The Button in a 2m beginners’ chase at Carlisle in October when trained by Jonjo and AJ O’Neill.

Trainer says

He will be having his first run for us in the County Hurdle. He is a high-class horse and has work has been very good for us. I know he has come to us with a catalogue of back issues, and we have worked hard to work those out. We have asked him plenty at home and have had a racecourse gallop and we won’t know that final bit until we run.

Form profile

131-rated hurdler. Finished third, beaten nine and three-quarter lengths, behind Manlaga on his stable debut in the Victor Ludorum Juvenile Hurdle at Haydock (1m 7½f) earlier this month.

Trainer says

He should get in the Fred Winter and ran well for us at Haydock the other day. He had to give away a penalty, and a fast run race would really suit him.

Form profile

159-rated hurdler. Winner of all four hurdle starts last season, which culminated in a three-quarter-length victory over The Yellow Clay in the Grade 1 Turners’ Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham (2m 5f) last March. Leading when falling two out in the Grade 1 Fighting Fifth at Newcastle (2m 1f) in November on his seasonal reappearance but back in the winner’s enclosure when beating Nemean Lion by a length and a half in the Grade 2 Unibet Hurdle at Cheltenham (2m 1f) in January.

Trainer says

The New Lion is in great form and he looks magnificent. His season had a rocky start, and he ended up where you don’t want to end up but I learned a good bit about him that day. The one thing that was unanswered coming into the season was how would step down in trip and whether he had the speed to deal with two miles. I think he answered that pretty conclusively that day despite hitting the floor and he only enhanced that opinion when we ran on Trials Day. Of course, it was a bit of a non-event, and they went slow and he beat two horses on ratings he should have beaten but I just like the way he showed that speed that day. He was sure with his feet that day and Harry held into the bottom of the hurdles and he was quick with his feet. I like what I have seen at home and his physical condition - I wouldn’t swap him. I’ve never had an ambition to go to Kempton, so I don’t think we’ve missed a race and the only thing missing from his CV was a clear round or a high place in a Fighting Fifth. We were always going to do what we have done. I was a bit surprised we were favourite for the Champion Hurdle in the summer as overs had achieved more over two miles, but I’m not surprised he is nearly favourite now. I think we have all the bits we need to go and win a Champion Hurdle but that’s coming from a man that’s never won one. Obviously, I have never had a better chance but all the things that he has got are required necessities for it. The Champion Hurdle will surely turn into a staying race as it always does with a strong gallop, and you have to stay it well. He isn’t a fabulous work horse, but when he gets to the track he really gives you everything. I am really happy with him, and his condition is absolutely fantastic.

Form profile

Scored by five and a half lengths over Finisk River in a bumper at Ayr in January.

Trainer says

He won really well up at Ayr and, a little bit like Maestro Conti, his work is obviously improving at home and is no back-number in the Champion Bumper.

Form profile

Finished third, beaten five lengths, behind Bass Hunter in a Listed bumper at Ascot in December.

Trainer says

He probably has the best form of my quartet in the Champion Bumper, as he was third to Bass Hunter in the Listed bumper at Ascot and we want to go left-handed. I think we can get a little closer to Bass Hunter now going left-handed, and he isn’t priced accordingly.