Dan Skelton Cheltenham Friday blog: 'He will be competitive'

As Cheltenham returns, Ladbrokes ambassador Dan Skelton has two hopefuls on day one on Friday and dreams about the trainers’ title.

Being favourite for the trainers' title at this time of year is a luxury but there is a long way to go. We have a nice team and we are very happy with what we got. I know how hard it’s going to be given the competition surrounding us. It is a great position to be in and we are honoured to be favourite. I have been asked what I would rather...to win the Grand National or the trainers’ title? It has to be the latter. We will give it our absolute best shot to win it.

The ground is much quicker than we expected at Cheltenham and the rain has stopped which is pretty frustrating, but we do have two nice chances. It will be hard to call either of these a nap but they both have chances.

Calico loves a bit of nice ground. He finished second on his comeback last year in a similar race at the November meeting. I think the handicapper has given him a bit of a chance so I think we can say that he will be competitive.

Valgrand runs in a Grade 2 novices’ hurdle, a race that we had in mind for a while. He likes good ground and was second at the meeting last year. He went on to do well at Aintree, before winning two novice hurdles in May. He’s been around the track before, he is fit and well, and he is a competitor here. Gale Mahler sets a high standard, but we have been very happy with our horse.

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