Saturday’s racing saw a jubilant Skelton team up at Haydock, but a despondent Henderson team down at Ascot.
Protektorat laid down the gauntlet for the Gold Cup, as he stormed to an 11-length victory in the first Grade One of the season.
Lit up in the early stages, jockey Harry Skelton held his mount towards the back of the field, sat in front of the odds-on favourite, and Gold Cup winner, A Plus Tard.
Jumping with ease, Protektorat made his move on the bend to the back straight, cutting through Frodon & Eldorado Allen, and went in pursuit of long-time leader, and three-time winner of the race, Bristol De Mai.
Sitting in behind the leader, he out-jumped him at the fourth last and wasn’t for catching. A Plus Tard was poor, pulling up before the home straight.
Protektorat is now one of the UK’s best chances to win the Gold Cup in March, which was confirmed as the aim from trainer Dan Skelton, but the route would be a little different:
‘I don’t think he’ll go to the King George and I imagine we’ll either go to Lingfield for the Fleur De Lys Chase or the Cotswold.’
Ecstatic owner Sir Alex Ferguson, who’s no stranger to success in both racing and football, said this ranked up there in his many sporting achievements, when speaking to ITV:
‘One of the best. Winning a race like that, against a horse like A Plus Tard.’
Ferguson had another winner at the Lancashire course, as Hitman won the Graduation Chase, this time for the red-hot Paul Nicholls and Harry Cobden.
Nicholls spoke after the race, teasing a big potential target for Hitman:
‘He’s got an entry for the King George and I’d say that’s where we’ll be heading.’
Botox Has won the stayers’ handicap hurdle, beating Skelton-trained Get A Tonic and Cesarewitch winner Run For Oscar.
And whilst there was plenty on show at Haydock, it was rather a no show down at Ascot.
The card proposed a return for Supreme Hurdle winner Constitution Hill and Brown Advisory winner L’Homme Presse.
Both, along with others on the card, dropped out due to the ground, which had dried out throughout Friday’s meeting and the night.
Trainer Nicky Henderson expressed his dismay at Constitution Hill’s withdrawal to the ITV viewers:
‘It’s disappointing for everybody. It’s more disappointing for us, for Michael [Buckley], Nico [de Boinville] and the team. But it didn’t take long to make our minds up.’
The question on everyone’s lips is where will Henderson’s star hurdler run next? The Seven Barrows’ said potential targets could be this week’s Fighting Fifth at Newcastle, where stablemate Epatante holds an entry, or the International Hurdle at Cheltenham in just over two weeks’ time.
With many non-runners at Ascot, the field sizes were disheartening for the crowd at the Berkshire track, the biggest field being eight in the flat race.
There was also a walkover at Ascot in the second race of the day, which bemused winning trainer Nicholls, who spoke to ITV:
‘I could see it was going to be a small field, but why it was a walkover, I have no idea. Lorcan [Williams] rode in the first and said ‘I don’t know what they are on about, the ground is safe’ and Harry [Cobden] said the same thing yesterday.’
‘It’s frustrating for all the racing fans who obviously enjoy watching those good horses running.’
This reignites the debate as to what can British racing do to increase field sizes, whilst also maintaining the safety and welfare of the horses.
The big winners in the small fields at Ascot were Coole Cody, who’s more likely to be seen at Cheltenham, winning the 1965 Chase and Goshen, who took to chasing earlier this month, won the Coral Hurdle.
Oliver Holmes
