Saturday
THE past week has seen some intriguing early-season flat racing, but the developing battle between Willie Mullins and Dan Skelton to be crowned UK champion jumps trainer has captured all the headlines, and fortunes have swung back and forth to make the season’s finale at Sandown on Saturday more anticipated than ever.
There were no Willie Mullins runners on Saturday, but Dan Skelton managed to land just a maiden hurdle on the day to leave the title-race largely unchanged.
The ever-reliable Stuart Crawford notched one up for Northern Ireland when Bleu D’Enfer took a handicap chase at Carlisle at 9/2 under Anthony Bromley’s son Ben.
Main focus of the day was a valuable fixture at Musselburgh featuring the Queen’s Cup over a mile and three-quarters and that handicap was won by Kihavah (Adrian Keatley/P.J. McDonald) who beat Aimeric by a head to score at odds of 7/1. Keatley, the former Curragh trainer who made his name by saddling Jet Setting to take the Irish 1000 Guineas in 2016, relocated to Malton in North Yorkshire six years ago and Kihavah has been one of his stable’s stalwarts, winning his ninth race for connections just a week after finishing well held in the Scottish Champion Hurdle.
Sunday
Plumpton was the scene of the latest skirmish in the Mullins/Skelton battle, with Absurde (Willie Mullins/Harry Cobden) taking the day’s feature race, the Sussex Champion Hurdle, from stablemate Daddy Long Legs (Nico de Boinville), while Dan Skelton got a bit back when Shakeyatailfeather scrambled home in the concluding handicap chase to claw a little back.
Monday
Bank Holiday Monday saw the second day of Plumpton’s Easter fixture, and Willie Mullins took the concluding bumper with Emerald Poet (Harry Cobden) in the colours of Eleanor Manning.
Skelton had one winner on the card, but also struck at both other jumps meetings, at Chepstow and Fakenham, to edge the verdict on the day, while the Sussex Champion Chase saw Aintree winner Sans Bruit (Paul Nicholls) follow up under an assured ride from Jay Tidball.
Tuesday
Despite the lack of Mullins representatives, there was an Irish-trained winner at Kelso’s jumps card on Tuesday, with Conor Maxwell saddling Rose Of Kalanisi (Kieren Buckley) to take the mares’ novice handicap hurdle at an SP of 3/1. The winner was making her debut for Maxwell and carried the colours of trainer’s wife Karena.
Wednesday
After a short cessation midweek, battle was joined again on Wednesday as Perth staged the first of a two-day meeting which is the highlight of the season at the picturesque Scottish track.
Willie Mullins arrived at Perth behind in the title race, but he made a big dent in Dan Skelton’s lead when providing the winners of both listed contests on the card.
The British EBF Gold Castle ‘National Hunt’ Novices’ Hurdle saw Kiss Will, a disappointment in the Baring Bingham at Cheltenham, bounce straight back to record a career-best performance stepped up to an extended two miles and seven furlongs.
The 5/1 chance travelled strongly held up and his only moment of concern was when fluffing the penultimate hurdle, from which he quickly recovered to stretch four and a quarter lengths clear of Skelton’s talented Royal Infantry (Harry Skelton).
The Quilter Cheviot Fair Maid Of Perth Mares’ Chase saw a Mullins one-two at listed level, with Fun Fun Fun (Paul Townend) justifying 4/7 favouritism to beat Paggane (Harry Cobden) by a comfortable four lengths having jumped well and made most of the running.
The pair finished a long way clear in a race where the useful El Elefante was pulled up early having badly struck into herself.
Dan Skelton may have been struck a hammer blow by those results but quickly struck back with Etalon winning the Phil Nelson Capercaillie Handicap Chase, and he managed an across the card double when Jefferey’s Cross took the hunter chase at Ludlow, a race worth a princely £3,388 to the winner. Every little helps.
Thursday
No winners from just a couple of runners for Mullins on Thursday, but once again, other Irish trainers showed that it’s not a one-man show. There were two winners for raiding stables, with Stuart Crawford and J.J. Slevin teaming up for an impressive win in Perth’s mares’ novice hurdle courtesy of the Munir and Souede-owned Mongibello, who was winning for the second time in as many starts at the Scone Palace venue in a race where odds-on favourite Magic McColgan – named after local sporting legend Liz McColgan - was only third for Willie Mullins and Kenny Alexander.
At Bangor, there was a surprise winner in the three-mile handicap chase as Digby (Dermot McLoughlin) scored at odds of 22/1 under promising 7lb claimer Paddy O’Brien.
Digby did not look an easy ride in the first half of the race, but O’Brien gave him a confident ride to take the lead before the penultimate fence and win comfortably despite Digby wanting to hang when he had the race in the bag. The jockey looks one to keep on the right side given this mature display of race riding.
Once again, the Skelton battalions were in action on multiple fronts on the day, with the £25,000 River Tay Handicap Chase at Perth going to Heltenham under Harry Skelton while Doyen Quest and Gwennie May Jem provided the stable with a double at Warwick where Heidi Palin and Tristan Durrell - respectively - were doing the steering. Coco Mademoiselle added near £8,000 at Perth on Friday which meant that Skelton would take a lead of over £64,000 into the final day of the season, but with just 11 runners at Sandown on Saturday compared to Willie’s 10 in the Bet365 Gold Cup alone – a race which has £175,000 in total prize money – it feels like the white flag is being readied by the team at Alcester.
It must be said that Skelton has carried the fight with grace and good humour until its dying hour, but he has simply run out of ammunition for the final push.
Epsom Tuesday
Is Sea
TUESDAY saw the attention swing back to the flat, with Epsom’s Spring meeting featuring the Blue Riband Trial, and that listed race produced a surprise result as Sea Scout (Simon and Ed Crisford/Harry Davies) scored at 40/1 on his turf debut, handling the tricky track a lot better than runner-up Trinity College (Aidan O’Brien/Ryan Moore) to score a shade cosily.
Despite his big odds, there seemed no fluke about the result, and it’s possible that the winner will test his Epsom credentials again in the Dante Stakes at York next month.
“We have always loved him and always really enjoyed him,” Simon Crisford said of the winner. “He has always looked like a horse with a lot of talent and will stay a mile and a half.
“He is in the Derby and in the Dante. We will let the dust settle and make a plan with Mr Al Mansoori, who is a lucky owner at Epsom. Even though he was the outsider today, he wasn’t that price in our book, and we came here today thinking that he had a nice chance.
“At home he is a little bit sleepy so you can’t really judge him by what he does in the mornings, but he has the pedigree for the big race back here in June.
“He will stay the trip and is now a course winner who likes the track. We will come back in June with lots of positives.”
Epsom also staged two of the flat calendar’s more enduring handicaps, with the Great Metropolitan going to 13/2 shot Asgard’s Captain (Dylan Cunha/David Egan) and the City & Suburban won by 9/4 favourite City Of Light (David Menuisier), who provided jockey Harry Davies with a memorable double on the card.