It’s the best time of year for a lot of National Hunt trainers, as their horses embark on their autumn campaigns. All possibilities are open at this point and Dan Skelton is confident that another big season is ahead. His stable tour came out in the Racing Post this week and he has lots of horses to look out for. We’ve selected three dark horses who could be worth adding to your trackers for the season. Take a look at our free tips page for daily content across British and Irish racing.
Connections went to 580,000 guineas to purchase this ex-Flat recruit and Skelton has big expectations. He said: “We spent quite a bit to get him off the Flat, where he was rated 103 and seemed to get better as he was stepped up in distance. We’ll get him gelded and he looks an exciting juvenile hurdler in the making, with plenty of improvement to come, judging by his profile.”
This horse joined the yard after leaving Paul Nicholls and managed to win a bumper last term. He could be lining up in some of the better novice races throughout the season. Skelton said “He had some good bumper form and ran really well on his first run over hurdles in a good novice at Newbury, travelling nicely into the race before taking a blow late on. I’d like to take aim at some better novice hurdles around Christmas and into the spring, because I really like him.”
Already a winner this season, he could be up to claiming more victories over hurdles this season. His trainer said “A lovely horse, he took us a little by surprise when he won his bumper, as he looked a big, galloping type. He did well to finish second in his next bumper and scored on his hurdling debut at Carlisle, where he relaxed well, jumped fluently and travelled into the race smoothly.”
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