It's Grey Dawning's year in the Betfair Chase

Grey Dawning - won't run on heavy ground

Betfair Cotswold Chase preview: Grey Dawning won't run on heavy ground

By Graham Clark

Horse Racing

Sat January 24, 2026 · 1d ago

Dan Skelton feels he is in a "good space" with Grey Dawning, but has warned he won't run his star in the Betfair Cotswold Chase if the ground at Cheltenham gets heavy.

This season’s Betfair Chase hero is currently trading at odds-on to land the Grade Two prize, which has attracted just four runners, and is expected to be his final race before the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup in March.

But should conditions become too testing at the Gloucestershire track then the trainer might have to re-think plans for the nine-year-old, who is currently as short as 10/1 to taste glory in the blue-riband prize at the Festival in March.

Skelton said: “Grey Dawning is in great form and we have had this race in mind for sometime. We want to take this in this race on route to the Gold Cup. I think it is a good day out for him, but I would be nervous if it got really heavy and I’ve said that before as I think that is what cost us in the Betfair Chase last season. I just have to be a little respectful of that.

“I feel like we are in a good space, but what I won’t do on Saturday is be drawn into running on heavy ground. If it went heavy at Cheltenham then we are out. We wouldn’t go for the Denman Chase and we would just gallop him a bit more at home.

"I got him ready for the Betfair Chase first time out and having a gallop is more ideal than having a race on heavy ground. I feel like this is the year we have to prioritise the Gold Cup.”

After tasting defeat in the Betfair Chase last season the Flemensfirth gelding then pulled-up in the Ladbrokes King George VI Chase, before winning the bet365 Premier Chase at Kelso and finishing second in the Brooklands Golden Miller Chronograph Bowl at Aintree.

The trainer feels he is dealing with a different individual this season, and one who is more than capable of being competitive in a Gold Cup.

Skelton said: “I think the thing is with him in some people’s opinion he may be seen as a nearly horse. He nearly beat Gaelic Warrior last season at Aintree, he nearly won the Betfair Chase last season, but he didn’t, then he got pulled up in a King George.

“These top end horses, especially the long distance ones, you have got to have them peaking and I never felt last season that we were in Gold Cup form, but this season I feel different and that is why we are heading towards it.

“We never went to the Gold Cup last season as I never felt like we were in Gold Cup form. I thought he was a Gold Cup horse, but he was not in Gold Cup form. Make no mistakes Haydock Park last season absolutely did him in. I said afterwards this will take a lot of getting over.

“He put up a good run at Kelso and then he ran, what was then, a career best when he finished second behind Gaelic Warrior, before he superseded that with another career best in the Betfair Chase. You are looking at a horse that has two career bests in his last two starts. You draw the graph. There is a direct upward curve there and that is the scenario you need to be in on the way to the Gold Cup.”

Racing Podcast: Trials Day Preview

And while he is respectful of Saturday's opposition, which includes last year’s winner L’Homme Presse and dual Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle hero Flooring Porter, the trainer feels Grey Dawning is the one to beat.

He added: “L’Homme Presse is a very good horse that ran well in a handicap around there last time. He did no different to what Protektorat did in the November Meeting at Cheltenham and he went on to win the Fleur de Lys.

"You could argue that L’Homme Presse ran even better as he finished second, while Spillane’s Tower has good figures. I’ve got a lot of respect for those two. I know Flooring Porter is a good horse, but he is coming into this off a long layoff, however he has won plenty of prizemoney.

“You could undoubtedly pick holes in the Haydock Park form, but what you can’t do is you can’t pick holes in his performance. He sauntered around and cantered clear. We were in a different race on the day. The form has no bearing to his chances here as you could have put one in that was twenty lengths clear of them all and I would have been confident that we would have caught it.

“Preparation is what is key and that is why I feel like we are in a different level of form this season compared to last season. There is no pressure, but you do feel expectation because at the end of the day he is odds-on, but that is because he is in better form than all of his rivals going into it.”

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.

Like what you've read?