Equinties - Skelton yard tour

Gm Equinauts

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We’ll give another one out today too.

Let’s dive in.

HEADINE ROUND UP

DAN SKELTON MEDIA DAY

Round two of the Cheltenham Festival stable tours occurred yesterday as the British media made their way to Dan Skelton’s yard in Warwickshire.

Compared to Nicky Henderson’s visit on Monday, Skelton had more runners to talk about. He might not have CONSTITUTION HILL but he does have his own Grade 1 hurdler plus a considerable number of handicap runners throughout the week.

Instead, he has LANGER DAN, and even the brief mention of the two-time Coral Cup winner managed to get Racing X riled up yesterday.

We’re not going to give this much airtime. Skelton has repeatedly said he hasn’t been going well at home all season, and even though he said it again yesterday, he still gets called a cheating ******* lmao!

And let’s be honest, the abuse is absolutely warranted because we all know what’s happened with the horse and the handicappers aren’t having it anymore and subsequently Dan is now forced to run him true in open company – the stayers.

Done.

So, what were the main talking points from the day?

Well, his bullishness for THE NEW LION in the Turners was for all to see. He highlighted the recent JP McManus purchase as his best chance of the week, and there was much more than a twinkle in his eye when talking about him.

Yes, Skelton is a great talker and he’d almost be able to convince you that water isn’t wet, but he has such admiration for THE NEW LION that he can’t be this wrong.

And that stat about Challow winners at the Festival doesn’t worry him at all – he must have read the newsletter when we took a deep dive into historic Challow to Cheltenham operators – it really isn’t that bearish!

He was quite sweet on L’EAU DU SUD for the Arkle, but not in the same street as THE NEW LION for the Turners Novices’ Hurdle. That says enough, and his words about L’EAU DU SUD will get tested today with the run of RUBAUD in the Grade 2 Pendil Novices’ Chase.

The BE AWARE Coral Cup hype got another push yesterday, and the way we read comments, Skelton thinks that the only thing that can beat BE AWARE is… BE AWARE!
He is a hothead, so much so that he ran away from the pack at Huntingdon in a gallop the other day, so the overwhelming nature of the Cheltenham Festival main stage could be too much for him.

He does have that run in the Greatwood Hurdle under his belt though, and that experience of Prestbury Park will be invaluable.

As for his left-field shouts, they both came in the bumper with FORTUNE DE MER and KEOPS DES BORDES. The former is 33/1 and the latter is 50/1, and they have different profiles.

One is a classic Champion Bumper horse with speed and quality, probably a ‘now’ horse, while the other is a long-term chaser who will stay further. However, Skelton is happy to chance the latter because he is a well-balanced horse who beat FORTUNE DE MER in his PtP by five lengths, and he could be going under the radar. FORTUNE DE MER is the number one vote but keep an eye on both.

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