Protektorat wins Fleur De Lys Chase at Windsor for Dan and Harry Skelton

The Dan Skelton-trained 11-year-old was sent off the even-money favourite in the valuable two and three-quarter-mile contest and the horse raced freely on the front end in customary fashion.

Handstands was the closest pursuer for the majority of the race and he came alongside the long-time leader soon after taking the ditch which is four fences from the finish.

The pair of them were level at the third-last, with Resplendent Grey and Matata still in there pitching, but on the run to the second-last Protektorat found extra and came away from the others approaching the final fence.

Skelton asked him up one more time and his mount responded with another fine leap, Protektorat being kept up to his work on the run-in to score by three and three-quarter lengths from the running-on Resplendent Grey (15/2).

Harry Skelton said: “This is what they have all come for. There is a great atmosphere here and it is jump racing at its best. People come out to see good horses and Protektorat is now a millionaire. He has broken the million-pound marker.

“He is the hardest ride as a jockey I will ever have. He is just hard to handle. He loves running left-handed. He runs a bit with his head to one side and he can be very keen early on.

“He has got the constitution and will to win. When I jumped three out I thought he would win as he has been in a battle before. He is a year older now, but he doesn’t think that as he thinks he is seven years old.

“I promise you I could ride him out tomorrow and he wouldn’t know when to stop. I wouldn’t have the patience to ride him every day, but you have got to have that.

“These horses are really hard to find. He wants to run, and that is what he enjoys doing. The more jumps the better. He is just a pleasure to have.

“As a jockey when you start out you want to ride a winner then you want to ride a big winner then you want to ride a good horse.

“For me to have a horse, for what he has done for my family for Dan, for Bridget, as she probably had one of the best days she has had in her riding career on him, and for his owners, to have a horse that has won a million pounds, won Grade Ones, and come back is incredible.

“They are so special and so hard to find. Whatever happens we will always remember Protektorat.

“Lisa (Hales) and Pat (Hales) are probably going to watch the Villa and Ged (Mason) is away on holiday as well. They will be enjoying this wherever they are I can tell you that. John Hales will also be looking down and he will be very proud.

“I was a passenger and he just took me for a ride.”

'He is a bit of a one in a million'

The Skelton team went on to complete a Windsor treble, as well as three winners on the card at Fakenham, and assistant trainer Tom Messenger said: “He is a special horse. I’m sure Harry has spoken volumes about him, but you watch him go around there and no horse should be able to do that. He defies logic.

“He shouldn’t be able to go out that hard and keep going. When the other horse came to him and two/three out you think he is cooked, but he doesn’t know when he is beat.

“He has got the greatest temperament. He has had quite a few wind ops throughout his career and he runs in a tongue tie as his wind is not very good.

“I was actually down on the rail with a circuit to go and I could hear his wind rattling from there and I was thinking he has got another circuit to go.

“He was pulling hard, and not breathing, but he just does a lot of things a little bit wrong, but a lot of things very right. He is a bit of a one in a million.

“I was fairly confident (when Handstands joined him) in the temperament of the horse, but when the horse has gone that hard early on you think is he about to fold, but he wasn’t going to lie down today.

“The other horse, Handstands, came up and he is a very good horse. It was good to watch. Everyone wants to come here and watch good horses and watch proper racing.

“Look at the King George, what a race that was, and today what a race. I think there is a lot of healthy stuff going on in racing and it is brilliant to watch.

“He wants to run and he would run a brick wall for you. It was a poignant victory for the Hales family and everyone really."

Runner-up 'back to his best'

Murphy said of Resplendent Grey: “He ran a cracker giving Protektorat weight. He was back to his best today in a smaller field.

"I thought he jumped well on the whole. It was a very good run and he has bumped into a course specialist that has been an unbelievable servant for connections.

"I don’t know what we will do next, but he is a horse for these type of races. He just stays very well.

"Two miles and six furlongs around here is sharp and he was in top gear from the moment he jumped off. He ran very well and I’m chuffed to bits."

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