Dan Skelton talks us through his Warwick and Newbury runners
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I have four runners at Warwick tomorrow, with Zebi Boy first up in the 1.30.
He hasn’t got the hang of it yet as he started racing later in his life. I think he will be alright in time but as far as his chances go tomorrow, I’d say they’re limited.
We are persevering with him and once the penny drops I think we could have a winning chance somewhere.
North Hill Harvey runs in the 2.40 but he has to give away a penalty to a very good horse. That won’t make life easy for him.
We’ve obviously got both eyes on the Arkle so I want to see him run well tomorrow. He can win because he’s a good horse but given the weights, he will be second favourite.
With the form he’s got you might expect him to be favourite but he won’t be because of the penalty he has to give away and I have a lot of respect for Saint Calvados.
Value At Risk (3.15) has to show that he is as effective as a chaser as he is a hurdler. He’s 13lb lower over fences so the handicapper has given him a chance.
He’s only got a small weight and hopefully he can get back on track as a chaser. I won’t have any excuses.
Spader runs in the 4.50 but he had a hell of a fall last time out at Stratford and I think he will need a couple of runs before he gets his confidence back.
I also think the ground will probably be a bit too soft for him.
We also go to Newbury for the Betfair Hurdle at 3.35 with Spiritofthegames and looking at the odds, I think this horse has been overlooked.
He came second in a very competitive handicap last time and I think he has an each-way chance. He seems a massive price.
On Sunday, we run Solo Saxophone at Exeter in the 2.30. We just want to see where he stands and he has to have a third run to be able to qualify for the Fred Winter.
I think he’ll get in there off his mark so tomorrow is about finding out where we stand with him.
He’s had two good runs, with two wins but we still don’t know how much he has under the bonnet and hopefully Sunday will give us an idea.
Dan
