Trainers' Championship latest: Skelton extends lead at Warwick

Dan Skelton struck with his only runner at Perth on Friday after Coco Mademoiselle won the 3m handicap chase.

The victory added £7,921.50 to Skelton's trainers' championship lead ahead of Saturday's title-deciding fixture at Sandown.

The trainer also added a further £2,843.10 thanks to Doyouknowwhatimean, who was beaten just a neck in the 2m handicap chase at Chepstow.

On Thursday, Skelton continued to pull clear of title rival Willie Mullins at the top of the trainers' championship after scoring an across-the-card treble, which included landing both feature races at Warwick and Perth.

The 3m1f handicap hurdle at Warwick, worth £18,000, went the way of Doyen Quest, who picked up £9,506, while stablemate Snipe claimed £1,094 for finishing fourth.

It was Skelton's second winner on the card after 9-4 favourite Gwennie May Jem struck in the 2m handicap chase. He rallied late to defeat El Rojo Grande in the 2m handicap chase and break his maiden at the tenth attempt, scooping a £3,961 payout.

Skelton pulled further clear of Mullins after Heltenham came out on top in the 2m4f River Tay Handicap Chase at Perth. The 5-4 favourite got off the mark for the first time this season when claiming just over £13,000 in prize-money.

Hidden History earned another £3,645 after finishing second in the 2m4f handicap hurdle at Perth, while stablemate God's Own Getaway scored a further £1,245 when third in the penultimate 2m4f handicap chase at Warwick.

Rock House added to his tally when finishing fifth in the penultimate 2m handicap hurdle at Perth.

At Bangor, Chuggy claimed the final amount of prize-money on offer when winning £242 for finishing fifth in the 2m7f novice handicap hurdle.

Earlier in the day, Mullins had reduced the deficit when 8-11 favourite Magic McColgan – his sole runner of the day in Britain – claimed £1,003 after finishing third in the opening 2m4f novice hurdle at Perth.

It took Skelton's overall lead to just under £60,000, and he said: "We've tried our best to extend the lead as best we can but Willie has always just kept us in check by running a few horses in the bigger races. There's an air of inevitability about it on Saturday but I've enjoyed the last few weeks immensely and if we get beat, we get beat."