You couldn’t write it, could you? The last few months have brought one of the worst droughts in recent years: nothing but blazing sun, rattling ground and National Hunt trainers praying for a drop of rain so they could ramp up their strings. Then, in typical UK fashion, along comes Storm Boelo, and Aintree is cancelled, along with Newbury for good measure.
Skelton domination
It was a joy to see the return of Cheltenham last week, but it was an ominous sign for British trainers, as the gap between them and Dan Skelton continues to widen. The Warwickshire-based yard has already broken another record this season, with Skelton becoming the fastest National Hunt trainer to reach £1 million in prize money.
The weekend at Prestbury Park didn’t get off to a great start, as the yard went 0-5 on Friday, including the 13/8 favourite Cooltobecareless, who was beaten in the Sharp Novices’ Hurdle. But they wasted no time in winning one of the first big pots of the season, as Here Comes Georgie took the 3m1f handicap chase on Saturday.
I said on the GG Weekend Watch podcast that he had no chance of staying 3m1f, and if he did, what was the point of taking on this operation? He’d won two chases, both over two miles in four-runner fields, and had largely struggled beyond that distance for both of his previous yards.
I think there’s a growing suggestion that Dan Skelton’s success is largely down to the wealth of owners supporting the yard, and while that is of course partly true, this one cost just £7,000. This time last year, he was beaten 84 lengths by Thistle Ask, whom Ryan Mahon and Dan Skelton also bought for just £7,000 and who has since improved 45lb. Here Comes Georgie could prove to be another shrewd acquisition.
Harry Skelton gave him a lovely ride, as he did on North Shore, who was well beaten at Chepstow but made no mistake in first-time cheekpieces, with Skelton riding confidently from the off.
That’s a combined £73,000 for two horses switched from other yards this season: one who hadn’t obviously shaped like staying beyond two miles before, let alone three, and another beaten 20 lengths on reappearance, with two completely different rides from Harry Skelton. You can only admire the operation, and they’ll be some force once more this season.
GBB Pointing Bonus
Horse racing (deservedly) gets stick for its lack of innovation at times, but the GBB Pointing Bonus scheme is an excellent initiative, as was demonstrated on Saturday with Woodstock Octo. Irish pointers have long dominated their British counterparts under rules, and with more trainers sourcing French imports too, there is an alarming lack of British-bred horses on the track.
Point-to-points are the grassroots of the National Hunt sphere and play a key part in nurturing talent, but British pointers have been a declining presence under rules of late. No Drama This End proved Britain can unearth smart types between the flags.
Kingofthefrontier became the first horse to trigger the bonus, earning £25,000 for connections when a seven-length winner at Southwell in June. He proved he’s a smart sort for John Dawson when taking the Grade 2 Sharp Novices’ Hurdle on Friday.
Twenty-four hours later, Woodstock Octo earned £15,000 from the scheme as a well-backed winner for Kayley Woollacott. I noted in my Saturday preview and on the podcast that Woollacott doesn’t send her pointers (trained by Josh Newman) under rules for the craic, and while the strength of his form was tough to weigh up, he’d been a prolific winner in points and had to be taken seriously.
He beat the Sir Alex Ferguson-owned Road To Wembley and the Gordon Elliott-trained Newbrook Diamond. It’s brilliant to see these pointing graduates succeed on the big stage.
Futurity conjures up Classic contenders
Aidan O’Brien’s two-year-old colts have been a touch disappointing this season, but the latter stages of the campaign have thrown up some smart types, such as Dewhurst winner Darkness Falls, Criterium winner Drumbeat and Futurity Trophy winner Giant Sequoia.
The latter had been well beaten in the National Stakes, but he put that well behind him at Doncaster as he bolted up in the Futurity. By Frankel out of the yard’s Camelot mare Pink Dogwood, who was second in the 2019 Oaks, Giant Sequoia is bred for Classic glory.
The Futurity has largely been a success for the yard of late in throwing up a nice three-year-old. Benvenuto Cellini was third in the race last year before going on to win the Irish Derby this season, while Delacroix was second to Hotazhell before an excellent three-year-old campaign saw him win the Eclipse and the Irish Champion Stakes.
2022 winner Auguste Rodin took the Epsom and Irish Derbies, along with the Breeders’ Cup Turf, while Magna Grecia and Saxon Warrior both went on to land the 2000 Guineas the following year.
I thought Gran Dia emerged with the most credit as a Classic contender, however. He only made his debut at the beginning of the month, and this was a huge ask stepping up to Group 1 company so soon. He was caught a touch flat-footed after Noble Exhibit cut across him, but he rallied very strongly for second with a nice turn of foot.
He’s a beautifully bred sort out of the 2021 Lanwades Stud Stakes winner Epona Plays, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him line up at Epsom next year.
Eye-catcher of the week – Minella Missile, Thursday 16:53 Ffos Las
It felt as if the National Hunt had really taken centre stage last week, as there were some strong cards and seemingly talented novices coming through, not least Joe Tizzard’s hat-trick of them at Ffos Las on Thursday.
It was later on that card that one caught my eye, and it was the resurgence of Minella Missile. The Beat Hollow gelding won the Hyde Novices’ Hurdle in 2023 and was rated 138 thereafter, but he missed the remainder of that season and has shown next to nothing since.
However, he made his chase debut last week and was beaten only a neck, having made good headway from the rear. That was from 23lb below his peak mark, and while he’ll likely go up a couple of pounds, he’s thrown in on his older form and has to be one to follow this season if they can keep him right.