Dan Skelton Friday runners blog: 'He will go very well'

In his latest exclusive blog with Ladbrokes, leading trainer Dan Skelton gives his thoughts on his runners on Friday at Chepstow.

He has had one run in France and ran really well out there. We have done plenty with him, we schooled him on grass as well. He is a horse I like and I think he will go very well. There are a couple of runners in here with chances but I fancy our horse to go very close.

 We ran in him in juvenile hurdles last year and he carries forward that experience. He was growing and maturing, and he is a bigger, stronger horse this year for sure. He has a proper chance in this race.

We run two in the mares’ hurdle who are both horse of Nick Sutton’s from the point-to-point field. They look to me like they want a fence down the line. Unfortunately Ben Sutton can’t ride for a day or two because he had a nasty fall earlier in the week. We have to get these horses started and the ground is nice for them. I don’t expect fireworks but they can win down the line and are probably nice chasers in the making.

This is a Grade 2 Novice Hurdle and a race we have had in mind for some time for him. He is a maiden having had some experience in hurdles last season. I think he will run very well here. He doesn’t carry forward the highest rating in the race and there are other horses here with lots of experience but I think the ground, track, and trip are ideal and I would have to give him a fair chance without calling him a certainty.

He won last time out over three miles at Warwick and I think this track will suit him as well. It’s a good track to get him into a rhythm jumping wise and I am very happy with how he has been at home since that run. He is getting more and more experience all the time and looks like he is improving. This is a massive step up in grade but we look forward to getting him out there and he should be competitive. 

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