Dan Skelton: 'I'm exhausted because I can't turn my brain off - if I stopped winning it would be mental torture'
Lee Mottershead talks to a trainer who could end a turbulent season as the sport's champion
Dan Skelton is wearing a fluffy white dressing gown. That is far from normal for an interviewee, yet this is a far from normal interview.
For a start, Skelton is not in his office or at a racecourse but instead sat on a lounger by a pool in Kitzbuhel. The view through the windows shows the Austrian Alps are largely free of snow, meaning the championship-leading trainer and his daughter were forced to head high into the mountains for the first full day of a welcome holiday.
When the snow turned to slush they returned to their hotel, which is where Skelton temporarily has sole responsibility for young Florence, whose mother Grace has stayed at home, having taken a previous dislike to skiing. It is also where Skelton now begins talking about a period of a life that may soon have one of its defining moments.
Read the full story
Read award-winning journalism from the best writers in racing, with exclusive news, interviews, columns, investigations, stable tours and subscriber-only emails.
Subscribe to unlock
- Racing Post digital newspaper (worth over £100 per month)
- Award-winning journalism from the best writers in racing
- Expert tips from the likes of Tom Segal and Paul Kealy
- Replays and results analysis from all UK and Irish racecourses
- Form study tools including the Pro Card and Horse Tracker
- Extensive archive of statistics covering horses, trainers, jockeys, owners, pedigree and sales data
Already a subscriber?Log in
- 'It's so wonderful to be here. If you're the only person in a wheelchair you find people tend to avoid you. Here you feel ordinary'
- 'I was in so much pain - I needed the time off for my mind and my body'
- 'There has been no promotion because there is nothing to promote' - will Premier racing recover from its stuttering start?
- 'There's a time to be serious because it's a multi-million-pound business - but you've got to have a laugh'
- Internal unrest and financial blows: is there a crisis brewing at the Jockey Club?
- 'It's so wonderful to be here. If you're the only person in a wheelchair you find people tend to avoid you. Here you feel ordinary'
- 'I was in so much pain - I needed the time off for my mind and my body'
- 'There has been no promotion because there is nothing to promote' - will Premier racing recover from its stuttering start?
- 'There's a time to be serious because it's a multi-million-pound business - but you've got to have a laugh'
- Internal unrest and financial blows: is there a crisis brewing at the Jockey Club?