IT’S impossible to keep the Skeltons out of the winner’s enclosure - three of the family lifted the Glitterball trophy in a Racing Come Dancing competition last Sunday night at Epsom.

The event was in aid of Racing Welfare, the charity which gives practical, emotional and financial support to people working in or retired from racing and thoroughbred breeding in Britain, and their families.

Dan and Grace Skelton, accompanied by their daughter Flo, shared first place with Mattie Batchelor and Jemima Beare. The event had raised £96,000 by Monday morning, with donations still coming in.

Nine couples from across British racing competed in the ‘Strictly-style’ competition following weeks of professional dance training.

Dan and Grace Skelton performed a lively Cha Cha routine, while Mattie Batchelor and Jemima Beare treated the audience to a racing-themed Charleston.

Ben Pauling and Dolly Maude took third place after a thrilling Jive in homage to the famous dance scene from the 1994 film, Pulp Fiction.

The full line-up included Derby-winning former jockey Martin Dwyer, former jockey and ITV Racing presenter Tom Scudamore and ‘local legend’ trainer Pat Phelan, who brought along an amazing cheer squad.

Last year’s champion Tom Malone returned as a judge alongside ITV Racing presenter Alice Plunkett (Fox-Pitt), trainer Richard Phillips, and professional dance coach Maria Howse.

When asked whether a dead-heat win was good enough on the night, Dan Skelton said: “Absolutely! [Mattie and Jemima] are insane, they all wanted a dance-off but I was like ‘no way – I’m out of here!’”

Greatest time

Reflecting on the event as a whole, Dan commented: “We just had the greatest time, it’s such a fun environment to be involved in – everyone getting ready to go out there and perform, everyone wants each other to do so well, it’s a great experience. Racing Welfare organised another cracking evening, it deserves to raise a heap of money as it is such a big effort from the whole team to put it on – we’re just the lucky ones who get to dance and enjoy it! It’s a fantastic cause and a fantastic thing to do.”

Mattie Batchelor added: “We had an absolutely fantastic evening, and the day was just full of laughs and everyone supporting each other. It’s for a great cause, Racing Welfare - what it does for stable staff and people in the horseracing industry is just fantastic and [the charity] deserves all the support it gets.”

Third-placed Ben Pauling said: “We loved every second of it, we loved the performance more than anything else as the crowd were all behind it.”

You can donate through racingwelfare.co.uk