Protektorat primed for defence of Betfair Chase crown

Nick Robson
November 14, 2023 2:57 pm

Dan Skelton is not thinking any further ahead than having his charge ready for Haydock.

Protektorat is in rude health as he builds up towards the defence of his Betfair Chase title, which trainer Dan Skelton describes as a “lifetime race”.

The first Grade One of the National Hunt season in the UK, Haydock’s feature event has a history of multiple winners, with Silviniaco Conti winning two, Cue Card and Bristol De Mai three apiece and the incomparable Kauto Star four.

Skelton was involved in those Kauto Star victories as Paul Nicholls’ assistant and winning with Protektorat 12 months ago gave him great satisfaction to get on the roll of honour in his own right.

Protektorat came up short in two subsequent runs, in the Cotswold Chase and the Gold Cup, and with that in mind, Skelton is leaving no stone unturned in ensuring he is at concert pitch for his reappearance.

A little morning snack for Dan Skelton’s Gold Cup hope Protektorat pic.twitter.com/Joghszo1WY
— Adam Morgan (@Adam_Morgs) February 14, 2023

“He’s in good form. We’ve managed to get him to our grass gallop this year, which is vitally important to him because we have to train him slightly different to the others, he’s not a horse we can train on the hill. He’s predominantly on the soft sand gallop,” said Skelton on a call organised by Jockey Club Racecourses.

“I wouldn’t say he’s completely unique, there’s a few we train the way we train him, but basically he puts way too much effort into the early part of his work, so you have to taper into it.

“If we worked him up our hill, he’d give us a terrible read as he’d do too much along the bottom and then feel the incline and not perform as well as those who are relaxed at the bottom.

“His health and his well-being is good, his fitness is right where we want it and it doesn’t hurt that there’s been plenty of rain all over the UK because that will suit him.”

Kauto Star was imperious in the Betfair Chase (Anna Gowthorpe/PA)

Skelton has fond memories of Kauto Star’s exploits on Merseyside and feels the race is one of jumps racing’s crown jewels.

He added: “Obviously, I worked for Paul when Kauto Star was winning them. The Betfair Chase is one of the biggies of the year, up there with the King George and the Gold Cup and it was fantastic to win it last year.

“It’s one of those lifetime races and it is very hard to get a horse good enough to run in it, so when you get your chance, you’ve got to try and take it.”

Getting back to Protektorat, Skelton said: “He spends his summers with Lisa Hales (daughter of part-owner John Hales) and he does well through the summer, we then start with him in the first or second week of July.

“He’s very enthusiastic about his work – if anything, he actually gives too much and you are always trying to calm him down as he is so keen to please, which is why he’s a great horse fresh.

“Sometimes, towards the end of the season, his early exuberance, while you don’t not appreciate it, everything he puts in at the start, it has to empty somewhere. He has won a Grade One in April, though.

“A week on Saturday is the big plan. He does have a King George entry and we’ll consider all options, but the Betfair Chase is his big target pre-Christmas.

“You can’t go to the Betfair half soaked, you’ve got to be ready for it.

“I wouldn’t call it a home match for us as he’s only done it once, but he’s answered the questions before, in those conditions at that trip. By their own admission, the trainers of the likes of Shishkin and Bravemansgame are looking at the King George.

“By our own admission, our number one target is the Betfair. I’m training him for the Betfair, which is giving me confidence he’ll put up a good defence.”

While Haydock is very much the big aim, come the spring, a tilt at the Grand National has not been ruled out.

“We rode him in the Gold Cup as if he’d stay four miles and because we were so aggressive, we gave him the opportunity to weaken going to the last and that is what happened,” said Skelton.

Harry Skelton salutes the crowd winning the Betfair Chase last year (Nigel French/PA)

“We half talked about a National entry last year. While it’s not headline-worthy that we’ll enter him in it, and there’s a lot of water to go under the bridge before entries are even considered, but we thought about it last year.

“By the same token, we also discussed dropping him back in trip. That is what happens when you get beat, you think of things you can do different. When you win, you just do the same thing.”

One man who has helped Skelton in the difficult discussion after a defeat is part-owner Sir Alex Ferguson.

Sir Alex Ferguson (second right) on the podium after last year's Betfair Chase — Sir Alex Ferguson (second right) on the podium after last year’s Betfair Chase (Nigel French/PA)

“First and foremost, he’s a sportsman, he knows the difference between winning and losing. He copes with losing because it used to happen to him in his professional life,” explained the trainer.

“It is comforting being around people who understand how to lose and try to get better from it. I’ve asked him questions and he’s always willing to answer. He’s an intelligent man who sees things in ways normal people don’t.

“He’s a great man to have on your side because he just gets it. No one was ever under more pressure than he was, no one ever felt worse than him after a bad result or better than him after a good result, he’s been there and done it all.

“It’s a great quality to have, being able to dust yourself down and go again.

“He’s never questioned, he would only question how we are going to do it better.”