HARRY SKELTON: Weekly Debrief

Star Sports racing ambassador HARRY SKELTON is back with his weekly debrief blog…

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KEMPTON

SATURDAY

BOOMBAWN

It was a great performance and arguably a career-best from him, giving five pounds away to Rubaud. At this time of year, I think it counts for a lot if you have pretty fresh legs and you haven’t had a hard winter, and that is exactly the case with Boombawn. It’s always gutting to get beat like that in a Grade 2, but we couldn’t be happier with his performance. He’ll now head to Aintree for the two-and-a-half-mile novice chase, where a bit better ground should help him, and we’ll look forward to that.

HELTENHAM

He pulled a bit too hard and didn’t stay the trip. It was a bit disappointing as we had hoped that he would get three miles and there was very valuable prize money on offer, but it wasn’t to be. We need to come back to two-and-a-half miles and then hopefully he can put this run behind him.

ETALON

I think he struggled on the very tacky ground. It was very holding, and I felt he couldn’t pick up on it to ever seriously mount a challenge. Hopefully we’re going to put that run behind us, go back to two miles with him and get back on track. We think he’s a proper two-miler, who enjoys being ridden prominently. That has seen him produce his best, so that’s what we’ll go back to.

MONEYGARROW

I was frustrated that he got beat in the bumper as I think he’s a decent horse. He was giving 17 pounds to the winner though, which is an awful lot of weight, especially in ground that was hard work. To be honest, he’s a horse that has been on the go for a long time since making a winning debut in a bumper at Chepstow in October and then running very well in a Listed bumper at Ascot. He hasn’t really had a break throughout the winter, so you won’t see him again this season, but we’re already really looking forward to going hurdling with him. Two-and-a-half to three miles will be his trip in time and I think he’s a nice prospect for the future.

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CHEPSTOW

SATURDAY

JUST GOLDEN

It was a poignant success with Just Golden winning the bumper in the colours of John Hales on what would have been John’s birthday. He stepped forward nicely from Hereford last time and we were delighted with him. The more galloping track suited him and it was a nice ride from Harry Atkins, who has had a couple of winners for us this week. He’s a hard-working conditional jockey and he got the job done well. I think Just Golden has a nice future and that will be over two-and-a-half miles over hurdles and then ultimately over fences further down the line.

This week…

The plan at the moment is to go to Kelso on Saturday with Grey Dawning. He’s been training nicely, schooled well last week and has had a nice canter on the grass. He seems in great form and we’re looking forward to taking him and several others up to Kelso where there’s some very valuable prize money on offer.

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