Dan Skelton previews his runners at Sandown, Wetherby and Musselburgh
Published:
We hope Sandown goes ahead and if so we will have four runners.
We start with Destrier (13.15) in a handicap chase. He stepped forward a bit for his last run but I feel he perhaps wants slightly better ground. However as he has not had many races in his life I need to get some runs into him, so he will get out there and will try to be as competitive as he can.
Shan Blue (13.50) runs in the Scilly Isles, which is obviously a race we have had in mind since he ran at Kempton over Christmas. He is in great form at home and jumped well the other day. There are no negatives and we are looking forward to it.
Alnadam (14.55) will love the ground in the handicap chase. He has won at the track before. He wants it as soft as possible and he is another I am looking forward to running. He is in good form at home.
Antunes (16.05) contests the novices handicap chase. This looks quite a decent contest but I am very happy with him. He is a horse who keeps stepping forward.
I know he ran in a Grade 2 race last time, which was a big ask, but he is in good form at home and as he is getting older, he is getting stronger. The ground shouldn’t be a real issue for him.
We have a couple of runners at Wetherby too. Benny’s Oscar (12.50) goes in the novices’ hurdle. I don’t know much about him. He is an older horse who has won point-to-points and obviously handles soft ground. We have to get him started to see where we are.
Shannon Bridge (15.05) won there last time in pretty soft ground. He obviously prefers hurdles to fences and I would have to give him another chance.
Sunday
We are sending Carlos Felix up to Musselburgh with Third Time Lucki.
Carlos Felix (13.55) runs in the Scottish Triumph Hurdle which is a decent looking race. It’s his debut over hurdles but I wanted to do it in a good race because if he was to lose his novice status this year, I want it to be in a good race. He jumps nicely, he’s a strong stayer. How he will handle really soft ground, we will find out.
Third Time Lucki (15.25) runs in the Scottish Supreme Novice Hurdle and I am very excited about him going. He looks fantastic, he has worked great and this is a stepping stone to the Supreme. I hope he will take a good bit of beating.
Dan
*Track inspections pending at Sandown, Wetherby and Musselburgh
