HARRY SKELTON: Weekend Debrief

It was great to get a couple of winners on the board at Newton Abbot over the weekend, which sets us up well for a busy week, including the return of Cheltenham, writes HARRY SKELTON.

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TRIGG

Dan found the right race for him and he got the job done nicely. He was probably badly in need of a holiday when he went up to Perth at the back end of last season, and he’s come back fresh and well. He’s a straightforward horse, and it was nice to get his head back in front. Hopefully, better things lie ahead of him.

MISTERDOC

I thought it was a good effort for his first run of the season. I was in top gear, really, after the second hurdle and I just had to give him a chance to get going, but he came home well to finish second. These four-year-olds don’t really want to be going up in trip just yet, not until the spring if we can help it. Next time, a bit more of a galloping track would probably help him, as he does stay two miles quite well.

BEORMA

She probably just lacked a little bit of confidence on the back of her last run when she made quite a bad mistake over fences. She warmed to her task, and I thought she ran okay. Hopefully, this will give her a bit more confidence going into her next run.

PLAYFUL FOX

Fences definitely helped him get the trip better. He jumped well and hit the line strongly. He’s had a really good summer and early autumn, so if the decent ground sticks around, he’ll keep running. When the rain comes, he’ll be given a winter break.

COUNTRY MILE

Unfortunately, he isn’t the sharpest tool in the box. He took a silly chance at one of the fences and he paid the price for it. Thankfully he got up and galloped away after the fall and hopefully he will have learned something from that experience.

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This week…

We’ve a busy week ahead up and down the country. It looks like we’re going to get some very welcome rain this week.

Royal Infantry goes up to Hexham on Tuesday for a three-runner novice chase and hopefully should go well. It looks like we’ve got Jeriko Du Reponet to beat, but our horse is in good form, so hopefully we can go up there and get a winner.

We’ve some good horses ready to run at Worcester on Wednesday. Talk To The Man goes in the beginners’ chase. He’s pretty new to us, but we like what we see at home. It looks a hot novice chase and we’re just hoping for a good, clear round.

Catch Him Derry has been off for a long time and comes back here. Whatever he does, I think he’ll improve on this run.

We run a nice mare called Lune Brilliante in the two-mile novice hurdle. Worcester should suit her, especially if the ground gets slow, as she stays well. She ran well in some bumpers last year and I think she’s a horse to follow through the season, especially in mares’ races.

On Thursday, I head up to Carlisle to ride Push The Limit, who makes his debut over hurdles. We obviously paid plenty of money for him, but he was a good horse on the Flat. He’s schooled well over hurdles and it looks like he has an appetite to jump.

We’re also set to run a nice horse in the bumper called Crystal Spectre, who has been doing things nicely at home. The horse that beat him in his point-to-point is with Jamie Snowden and is well thought of.

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