HARRY SKELTON: Weekend Debrief

Protektorat and Heltenham gave us two big winners last weekend, which is always important for the team as we get ever closer to Cheltenham, writes HARRY SKELTON.

The horses are heading into the Festival in good form and it’s exciting that we’re now only a week away.

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KELSO

SATURDAY

PROTEKTORAT

It was great for him to win again, after surviving a blunder at the second last. He just took a chance at the fence – it’s the worst mistake he’s probably ever made. It can be a tricky fence sometimes, it’s an open ditch and while it’s not very big, it can sometimes catch them out.

Luckily, I stayed on board and then he showed a great attitude to gather himself back up and get going again. I couldn’t stop him at the line – he wanted to go round again! He’s just a pleasure to be around, he’s got such a big heart and a will to win. I think we’ll go to Aintree now.

QUAVISTE

I thought he ran a nice race in the Morebattle. He can be a bit keen early on in his races and still lacks a bit of experience, but he put in a good performance. It was a promising effort and we’ll see how he comes out of the race and let him tell us where we go next. He is still a novice, so we’ll keep that in mind and might hold off until next year.

LE BEAU MADRIK

I was never really happy with him and he didn’t get going at all. He had an off day, which can happen, and I would put a line through that run as he’s much better than that. We’ll get him back on track and look to go again later in the spring.

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NEWBURY

SATURDAY

HELTENHAM

He won his second Greatwood Gold Cup at Newbury. I’m delighted for Charlie Todd, who was aboard, as he works really hard for us – coming in three days a week – and it was great to see him get a big Saturday winner.

It was nice to see Heltenham get his confidence back and return to the winners’ enclosure after taking a couple of falls earlier this season. He obviously loves Newbury and saves his best for there. If he goes and wins a race like the Greatwood Gold Cup, we can certainly forgive him his mishaps.

The handicapper will have his say now and we’ll have to see where we go next with him, but this was a great day for Heltenham and Charlie.

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