Ben Linfoot reflects on the final day of the November Meeting at Cheltenham as Dan Skelton landed a superb Shloer Chase-Greatwood Hurdle double.
The master tried to steal the show, but Sunday was all about the apprentice.
Paul Nicholls ended a losing streak at Cheltenham that lasted more than a year, 59 defeats in total, with a two-in-a-row 14/1 double, but his former assistant Dan Skelton went and trumped that by snagging the two feature races of the day in remarkable fashion.
Remarkable because the ultra-competitive Unibet Greatwood Hurdle was won by Skelton’s WEST CORK, a horse returning from a 631-day absence, under his brother, Harry. That’s a staggering training performance and though there was a drift out to 11/1 on the day, you sense the money (he was backed in from 25s antepost) was already down.
Skelton has proven on many an occasion that he can get one ready after an absence; Willow’s Saviour won on his chasing debut after 683 days off, while Superb Story wasn’t seen for the bulk of the season when landing the County Hurdle after a 124-day break.
But Willow’s Saviour won a four-runner race and Superb Story was running back relatively quickly compared to West Cork. The celebrations as he fought off Adagio in a thrilling finish said everything – this was a long-range plan hatched to perfection and the winning jockey wasn’t shy in telling everyone whose idea it was.
“It was about five weeks ago we were looking through the entry book and, he (Dan) said, ‘the Greatwood - what do we run?’ and he was scratching his head and I said ‘West Cork’.
“He was second in a Grade Two as a novice. He had last year off and if we got him fit he has a bit of class on his day and he has won there really well.”
Half an hour earlier the Skeltons were already popping the corks thanks to NUBE NEGRA’s win in the the Shloer Chase, as he got the better of Politologue up the hill.
After the drama with My Drogo on Friday, it has ended up being a landmark meeting for Skelton, with Third Time Lucki and Sunday’s big race double making it a weekend to remember.
“I learned more this week about the game that I probably ever have done,” Skelton said, smile beaming after Nube Negra’s success.
“When you’re running these good horses things can go different ways, but that’s just sport and I’m proud to be a part of it. I had a tingle in my hands after he jumped the last and I don’t think I’ve had that ever. Racing is just brilliant.”
Nube Negra has certainly thrown his hat in the Champion Chase ring again, after a luckless dart in last season’s renewal and he was cut to as short as 8/1 for the race behind The Big Three in the betting.
Shishkin, Energumene and Chacun Pour Soi are the trio shorter than him at this stage and, while we’ve been blessed with some great champions amongst the two-mile chasers over the last decade or so; Master Minded, Sizing Europe, Sprinter Sacre and Altior, it’s been a while since it was the hottest division in town.
That could all change this season.
But while this was a smooth success for Nube Negra, achieved by travelling strongly and good jumping, he had a lot in his favour and tougher assignments await.
The good ground was to his liking, he has an excellent record first time out and, crucially, there was a bizarre below-par performance from main market rival Put The Kettle On, who suffered her first defeat at the track.
On her toes in the paddock beforehand, it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to say the Kettle boiled over before the start, with colleague Dave Massey pointing out that a request to be mounted in the chute first never happened.
Getting so worked up beforehand helps explain why she wasn’t at her best, but she ran up the hill with enthusiasm like she always does and it could be too soon to take her out of calculations with this division in mind. Certainly, the Ryanair quotes flying about look a knee-jerk reaction.
Considering the developing strength in depth, it's going to be fun watching the two-milers in action this season and as Skelton reflected on his day, that particular F-word was at the forefront of his mind.
“It’s amazing really and professionally I think that’s about as much fun in the last hour that I’ve ever had on a racecourse. It’s been brilliant to have everyone here, the horses have just been magnificent.”
It was Skelton who stole the show, but Nicholls had the last word. Timeforatune won the bumper finale for the Ditcheat maestro, completing a treble on the day. He taught him everything he knows.
