Protektorat overcame an almighty scare to win the bet365 Premier Chase at Kelso.
Sent off at 1/12 for Dan and Harry Skelton, the eleven-year-old set out to make every yard of the running and looked to be in control until standing off the second last and making a shuddering error.
He lost all momentum and Minella Drama swept by to go to the front but by the final fence, order was restored.
Back in the lead, Protektorat produced a big and safe leap and ran on strongly to win by eight-and-a-half lengths.
Free video replay - Watch Protektorat win at Kelso
Unlimited Replays
of all UK and Irish races with our Race Replays
Discover Sporting Life Plus Benefits
Skelton's proud of stable stalwart Protektorat
“I was on a bit of a mixed stride and he came up long and we’ve landed in the middle of it but we got away with it,” the winning rider said of the error on ITV Racing.
“I then had to give him a bit of a chance to regather everything, let him get his breath back and once I got going he took off again. It’s great. Coming up here at short odds, it looked like he’d take all the beating and everything was great apart from one jump.
“You can’t get everything right all the time. He’s been a superstar, winning over £1million in prize-money and the constitution that he’s had is a credit to himself. It’s a pleasure to deal with a horse like him.”
The winning trainer added: “He’s a brilliant horse, an absolutely amazing horse. I kind of half thought in a minute he’s going to make some semblance of a mistake because he was so enthusiastic the whole way.
“Coming past the stands Harry has almost pulled him back to a trot and he’s having everything his own way. And at a time when he should be sending him on forward, Harry is still holding him and it’s a very hard thing to do to ride at that pace.
“Ultimately his class has told in the end but I genuinely thought coming into the race today he was better than he was at Windsor last time and I think that has been borne out.
“I really believe he’s the best we’ve ever had him this season and he’ll go to Aintree next for a Grade One.”
More from Sporting Life
- Free bets
- Racecards
- Fast results
- Full results and free video replays
- Horse racing news
- Horse racing tips
- Horse racing features
- Download our free iOS and Android app
- Football and other sports tips
- Podcasts and video content
Safer gambling
We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.
Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.