Wetherby has been a happy hunting ground for brothers Dan and Harry Skelton this season, operating well above 40% when teaming up together at the West-Yorkshire track. Our expert editor has highlighted their chances on Wednesday’s seven-race card alongside an exclusive bet365 offer where you can get £50 in Free Bets when you bet £10.
VIVA LAVILLA (1:00 Wetherby – Visit Irish Store Sales With ITM Novices’ Hurdle)
The opening contest should see a return to winning ways for VIVA LAVILLA who stands out in this company after finishing second and fourth in competitive Grade 2 events at Sandown and Warwick.
The six-year-old made an impressive start to life for trainer Dan Skelton when comfortably landing a maiden hurdle at Lingfield last November, travelling strongly into the lead in the hands of Harry Skelton before being pushed out for a cosy success.
Although Viva Lavilla has been no match for highly-rated pair Lossiemouth and Stag Horn on his latest outings, he should fair considerably better now reverting to Class 4 company and will take plenty of beating.
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SHANNON BRIDGE (2:05 Wetherby – Watch Racing TV On Sky 426 Handicap Hurdle)
Dan Skelton saddles two in this contest, with Flash The Steel looking to defy a mammoth absence as the ten-year-old returns for the first time since November 2020. However, Harry Skelton has opted to ride SHANNON BRIDGE who is not without a chance in this event despite being largely disappointing this campaign.
After pulling up on seasonal reappearance at Plumpton, the nine-year-old suffered a trio of wide-margin defeats on his next outings. Despite those below-par performances, it was interesting to see market support for Dan Skelton’s charge last time out over course and distance in first-time blinkers.
Shannon Bridge ran an encouraging race on that occasion to finish third after leading for the majority of the race under jockey David England. Connections will have been pleased with that return to form and the switch to headgear certainly helped spark some life back into the nine-year-old.
Now reunited with Harry Skelton, Shannon Bridge remains well-handicapped on old form and could outrun his likely odds if taking a step forward from his third-placed effort here last month.
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FAST BUCK (2:40 Wetherby – Racing TV Handicap Chase)
FAST BUCK certainly has some useful form in the book despite his sketchy and patchy record. The eight-year-old won twice over hurdles for Willie Mullins but ran respectably enough behind the likes of Fakir D’oudairies, Darver Star and Abacadabras when trained in Ireland.
Trainer Paul Nicholls soon acquired Fast Buck and although his chasing career didn’t get off the ground in three outings, Fast Buck was still deemed worthy enough to tackle Shishkin in a Grade 2 novices’ chase at Doncaster last season.
Now housed with Dan Skelton, Fast Buck was unfortunate to burst a blood vessel on stable debut but has subsequently shaped with promise in three outings over the larger obstacles, finishing behind the improving Venetia Williams’ charge Brave Seasca the last twice at Ascot and Warwick.
Although he may need further help from the handicapper, the eight-year-old may have a race like this in him and he is not without a chance if putting it all together on Wednesday.
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FIRAK (3:15 Wetherby – racingtv.com Handicap Chase)
It wouldn’t be a surprise to see FIRAK outrun his odds on just his third chase start for team Skelton. The seven-year-old has had his issues in making it to the track in recent seasons but finally got off the mark for connections over hurdles in January last year, effortlessly landing a maiden hurdle at Chepstow in heavy ground by 10l over an extended 2m3f.
Firak returned this campaign over hurdles at Haydock in December after a 332-day absence and was considerately handled under conditional jockey Jack Andrews to eventually come home a distant seventh.
However, Firak was quick to return to the larger obstacles last month and put in a polished round of jumping under Harry Skelton to finish third behind a pair of last-time-out winners after getting outpaced in the closing stages.
The former winning Irish point-to-pointer is also a half-brother to useful staying chaser Virak and makes plenty of appeal as he tackles 3miles for the first time on Wednesday afternoon.
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