Dan Skelton believes bargain buy Thistle Ask can continue to defy his reputation as the find of the season by serving it up to his rivals in the BetMGM Clarence House Chase at Ascot.
The nine-year-old has improved 43lbs since joining Skelton after being picked up for £11,000 by the Shelfield Green handle, and bloodstock agent Ryan Mahon, out of the yard of now retired trainer James Ewart.
Starting life for Skelton off a mark of 115 the son of Ask is now rated 158 following handicap chase wins at Kelso and Wetherby and Grade Two triumphs in the BetMGM Haldon Gold Cup at Exeter and the Ladbrokes Desert Orchid Chase at Kempton.
And now Skelton hopes the Terry McKeever-owned Thistle Ask can keep the bandwagon rolling when stepping up to Grade One company for the first time in his career in the £175,000 feature at the Berkshire track on Saturday.
Skelton said: “He has been amazing really and we are very proud of him. We are well into bonus territory already and we will go fly his best flag in the Clarence House Chase.
“I know he will run his race, if that is good enough to win then great, but if it is fifteen pounds behind Jonbon and others then that is what it is. He will run his race, and I can guarantee that, as he is very reliable and he is training really well.
“He has surpassed what we thought he would do for us by six wickets. How can you have expected him to do what he has done, he has been remarkable. We are very lucky to have bumped into him and that is all it is. Sometimes you bump into one in life, and we have done that with him.
“There are a lot of things in his favour here. He is going right handed over two miles and he is in form. All those things are ticks in his boxes for having a go at a race like this.”
Pro 'hard to beat' at Windsor
And 24 hours later Skelton will bid to secure back-to-back victories with Protektorat in the Fitzdares Fleur De Lys Chase at Windsor.
The triple Grade One winner showed that the fire still burns brightly when finishing a valiant third under top weight in an extended three mile three furlong Premier Handicap chase at Cheltenham in November.
He added: “He will turn up for the Fleur De Lys and as a weird quirk of the system he doesn’t get a penalty. The likes of Handstands, that will turn up, and others, will have to give him a penalty, which is a weird scenario to be in.
“He is in great form and I’ve trained specifically for the race and I couldn’t be happier with him. I know he isn’t getting any younger, but his enthusiasm for the game is phenomenal. Whoever wins, will beat him. He will be hard to beat."
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