Trip to Warwick pays off as Skelton extends lead

Some excellent race planning on Saturday from Team Skelton helped younger brother Harry Skelton (270) further increase his lead at the head of the David Power Jockeys’ Cup leaderboard. 

Dan Skelton’s Arkle hope L’Eau du Sud was sent off at 1/5 for the Kingmaker Novices’ Chase at Warwick and, though made to work hard by the Lorcan Williams-ridden Rubaud, was able to secure a length success, while stablemate Milos was very well-backed before his much easier success in the Veterans’ Handicap Chase 70 minutes later. 

With four more points added thanks to the fourth-placed finish of West Balboa in the listed Mares’ Hurdle in-between, it was a successful afternoon for the jockey who now leads Harry Cobden (234) by 36 points. 

Cobden’s sole return on a disappointing afternoon came via a third-placed finish for Bravemansgame in the Denman Chase which was dominated by the Charlie Deutsch-ridden Djelo. The winner looks likely to head to the Ryanair next as connections eye up some more success in front of the ITV cameras. Seventh-placed Deutsch now has 124 points.

Third-placed Sam Twiston-Davies (218) closed the gap on Cobden to 16 points thanks to a Grade 2 win of his own, as Master Chewy stayed on well to pip Libberty Hunter (Adam Wedge, 38) and stablemate Matata (Jonathan Burke, 70) in the Game Spirit. 

Nico de Boinville (206) added a 15th Jockeys’ Power win of the competition as Joyeuse scampered clear of the field in the William Hill Hurdle, providing trainer Nicky Henderson with his seventh win in the historic valuable handicap. 

In terms of the conditional riders, Freddie Gingell – despite not being able utilise his 3 lb claim – was second in the Denman Chase on Hitman, following on from finishing fourth in the ITV opener on Kruger Park.

It’s proving to be a tight tussle in the bid to be the leading conditional rider, with Gingell leapfrogging Caoilin Quinn (52) to join Dylan Johnston – who was second in the William Hill Hurdle on Lump Sum – on 62 points.