CHELTENHAM & AINTREE

AUTHOR: Star Sports Content

HARRY SKELTON: Weekend Debrief

We’ve tried to get out of the gates quickly this season, to get as many winners and as much prize money on the board as we can writes HARRY SKELTON.

The horses are running really well at the moment, which is great, and is testament to the team at home. Hopefully we’re there fighting for both the Jockeys’ and Trainers’ Championships come the business end of the season.

The reality is we’ve got a lot of horses in the yard, and we’ve got to get them running. If that means going from one end of the country to the other, then that’s what we’ll do. With the ground being so quick for the time of year it’s proving a bit difficult as there are plenty of horses that we want to get out and racing, as do the owners, so we’re doing a bit of juggling at the moment. A lot is up in the air as to where our horses will end up running, but we’ll go where the ground allows. Hopefully we get some rain soon.

Cheltenham, Friday

🏇 CALICO

We were delighted with Calico. He deserved to have his big day after knocking on the door all last season.

I think from here we might go for the Desert Orchid at Kempton over Christmas. We know that’s quite a big break, but he obviously enjoys being fresh so it’s a race we’ll probably look towards for his next outing.

🏇 VALGRAND (pictured below)

Valgrand was very impressive in winning the Grade 2 novice. He did have some nice form to his name last year in bumpers when second at Cheltenham to The Kemble Brewery and then he ran very well in the Aintree bumper. He was always a horse we thought pretty highly of, and although it was a marked step up from what he had shown before, we weren’t shocked by him winning. I suppose you could say we were just a little bit surprised with how well he did it.

It’s great placing by Dan too, as Valgrand was rated 118 and a lot of people would have said that we could have won three handicaps with him. It’s a bold decision from Dan to go for a valuable Grade 2 like that, and it really paid off.

He’s got an awful long way to go to be a Supreme horse or anything like that, so we’ll keep our feet on the ground at the moment and let’s see where he takes us.

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Cheltenham, Saturday

🏇 RISKINTHEGROUND

He ran well but maybe didn’t quite get up the hill over that trip. At least we know he’s competitive at that sort of level and still running well off his handicap mark.

He’s been great this summer, has won plenty of races and still looks in good form, so I’d like to hope he will still have every chance in these better sorts of races as the season progresses.

🏇 FORTUNE DE MER

I was annoyed that he got beat to be honest. He just drifted away from his rival at the finish and I felt that gave the other horse another chance, which has ultimately cost us. It’s due to greenness and inexperience, he just let the other horse back at him when he looked to have the race won.

He’s clearly got plenty of ability and we might look to go back to Cheltenham for the Listed bumper at the November Meeting.


Aintree, Sunday

🏇 UNEXPECTED PARTY

He ran well for a long way in the Old Roan. However, after winning the Grand Annual the handicapper has probably had his say – that’s the reality of it. He’ll be back out soon, and I imagine you’ll see plenty of him this season.

🏇 SUNRAY SHADOW (pictured below)

He obviously doesn’t do a lot in front, as he still looked very green and raw when he got to the lead. He jumped better this time around after his run at Warwick, and he seems to have improved in that department which is promising to see. Stamina isn’t a problem for him, but he wouldn’t want the ground too soft.

You’ll see him out again before the ground gets really slow and he could be a horse for a nice handicap in the spring.

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