Late call for Skeltons on Roksana’s Festival target

Keith Hamer
February 16, 2021 9:45 am

Ground will be key – with Mares’ and Stayers’ in equation.

Dan Skelton is likely to make a late call as to which race Roksana will contest at the Cheltenham Festival.

The Alcester trainer will keep a close eye on the weather as the meeting approaches before making his decision.

Should conditions be soft or worse for the start of the four-day fixture, Skelton would be tempted by the Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle on the Tuesday – which Roksana won in 2019.

However, if the ground is good to soft then Roksana could wait for the Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle two days later.

The nine-year-old has leading claims for both races, and showed her well-being with a convincing victory over Magic Of Light at Ascot last month.

“I’m really happy with her,” said Skelton.

“She’s come out of Ascot well and she will either run in the Mares’ or the Stayers’. It will depend a little on the ground.

“If the ground was just good to soft, then I think she’d have to go three miles. If it was a very wet forecast in the build-up, and we were going to get very wet ground on the Tuesday, she could go to the Mares’.

“It’s a hard thing just to say ‘yes, definitely’ we’ll go for one or the other, at this point.”