Warwickshire-based horse racing trainer Dan Skelton says he is looking forward to unleashing two of his leading Cheltenham Festival contenders on January 24.
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Skelton is hoping to hit the jackpot with Grey Dawning in the Cheltenham Gold Cup in March, while The New Lion is a on course to run in the Champion Hurdle.
Grey Dawning is scheduled to warm up for the big event in the Cotswold Chase, and a victory there would force online bookmakers to take evasive action.
The horse was cut into odds of 10/1 after winning at Haydock on his seasonal reappearance in November and Skelton expects him to follow up on Festival Trials Day.
“Grey Dawning looks fantastic and I’m very happy with him,” Skelton said. “He will go and run in the Cotswold Chase and then we will head to the Gold Cup all being well.
“Last season we got beat the first day in the Betfair Chase and I knew afterwards it was going to be hard for him to be in Gold Cup form thereafter and it was proven correct.
“This season has been a smoother start, and hopefully a smoother middle, and that will mean we can go to a Gold Cup with a real chance.
“The Gold Cup picture is not very clear, but that doesn’t mean it is an ordinary renewal. It is probably not very clear, because it is probably a good renewal.”
The New Lion is on a recovery mission
Skelton will also be represented in the Unibet Hurdle on Trials Day, with The New Lion set to return to action after fluffing his lines in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle in November.
The previously unbeaten hurdler suffered a crashing fall on that occasion, and faces a tough test to bounce back on his next outing.
Trainer Nicky Henderson has indicated that Champion Hurdle favourite Sir Gino will be in the line-up as he continues his career over smaller obstacles.
Sir Gino had been tipped to go chasing this season, but doubts over Constitution Hill’s participation in the two-mile hurdle championship have forced Henderson into a rethink.
Constitution Hill could also be heading to the Champion Hurdle, which will add a further degree of difficulty for The New Lion in March.
While Skelton is understandably not looking too far ahead, he is unfazed by the prospect of The New Lion going head-to-head with Sir Gino at Cheltenham.
“The New Lion is going to the Unibet Hurdle,” Skelton added. “Sir Gino may go straight to the Champion Hurdle, but if he comes here then bring it on.
“Put it this way, if Sir Gino turns up it doesn’t mean we aren’t. I’m not backing out. I said a long time ago this is the route we are going and I’m not changing.
“I’m not going to not make that race. If they turn up, they will make that race, and if they don’t then they don’t.
“I couldn’t go to Kempton as it was just too quick. I would have loved to have gone left-handed somewhere now and then go again in February, ideally left-handed, but you can’t so the only race you could run in properly was the Unibet Hurdle.”
“I think the track will suit him better than Newcastle. At Newcastle he was running really well and I felt like he would have won, but he didn’t and that is that.”
This is a submitted article written by Michael Cage.
