Dan Skelton talks Aintree, Wincanton and Sandown this weekend

It’s great to be back with the first of my regular blogs for Ladbrokes. I will be posting updates on weekend and key festival runners from now until the end of the jumps season.

With 12 winners in the last fortnight the team are going well and I hope that can continue over a busy weekend for the stable.

Saturday

Harry is going to Aintree for us and his first ride is Wilde About Oscar (12.25). We took him to Warwick on Friday but felt the ground needed to be softer for him and it’s going to be softer at Aintree.

He was pretty good on his debut, and the step up in trip is perfect. Hopefully he can go forward. I think he is a very nice horse.

Northofthewall (13.00) runs in the novice handicap chase. I think he has definitely taken a step forward from Uttoxeter.

That was a very competitive race he ran in there and I was happy with how he ran and jumped. He was just a little keen and perhaps a little too fresh for his first run of the season. He should go very well.

Mohaayed (13.35) runs in the three-mile handicap hurdle. He ran over two and a half there the last day and it looked like three miles was going to be right up his street.

He should feel the benefit of a run. He always takes a run at the start of the season for some reason.

But I was particularly happy with him finishing fourth the other day, which is about as well as he has run on his first start of the season. Hopefully he can go very close.

Bennys King (14.10) runs in the handicap chase. This is a pretty competitive race. He has top weight.

I am very happy with how the horse is but I do just feel he may improve for the run. I’ve done lots with him but I still think he is the type of horse that improves for a first outing.

Ch’tibello (14.40) runs in a conditions hurdle. The conditions of the race suit him.

He doesn’t have a Class 1 penalty this year so he gets weight off a few, whereas last year he was giving them weight. With that in mind over a track where he was close up in the Aintree Hurdle, I think he will go very well.

Romain De Senam (15.20) runs in the two-mile chase. We have been struggling a little with him. I think he travels very well but he has not been getting home.

Rock Legend (15.50) runs in the bumper. He’s a lovely three-year-old who is very well related. He has done some nice work at home but has no racecourse experience. I like what I see at home from him.

We have four runners at Wincanton where Molly Ollys Wishes (13.50) runs in the mare’s handicap hurdle. I’ve been happy with her since Carlisle, where she put in a good run.

She has taken a step forward from that and I think she definitely has a chance.

Cobra De Mai and Supremely Lucky (15.35) both run in the Badger Beers Chase. Cobra has come down to a more realistic handicap mark and will love the ground.

I’ve been struggling to find the perfect race for Supremely Lucky as he I don’t think he would mind a bit of better ground these days.

It wasn’t a bad run over hurdles last time so we thought he would let him take his chance.

In the bumper we run Jay Jay Reilly (16.05) who has stepped forward a lot since Market Rasen. There are some fancy horses in here, but ours is a nice horse. He has a bit of experience and I would hope he will go well.

Sunday

We have three runners at Sandown. Flegmatik (13.15) runs in the novice’s handicap chase. I think he has a fair chance. Obviously he won first time up and the step up in trip should be a big positive for him.

White Walker (13.50) runs in a maiden. He hasn’t shown a great deal to be honest. There are not quite so many runners in this so I thought it was a good opportunity to get him out there and see if he can show a bit more form.

Faivoir (15.00) runs in the handicap hurdle. He won a fairly uncompetitive race at Cheltenham last time but did it handsomely. He is a horse we like so we wanted to get him back out again and see where we stand with his handicap mark.

At Stratford we have one runner, Greatest Star (16.10), who showed good bumper form. The race he ran in at Warwick has worked out very well so hopefully he has a leading chance.

Dan