'I think he's got a real good chance' - bullish Dan Skelton bigs up Protektorat

Dan Skelton warned his Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup rivals on Tuesday that Protektorat "will be bang there" if back to the form he showed when running away with the Betfair Chase.

He is confident his stable star will leave a below-par prep run firmly behind him when he bids to improve on last year's third place in the March 17 showpiece.

The eight-year-old, an 11-length winner at Haydock in November, is reckoned by his trainer not to have been as fit as had been thought when finishing only fourth in last month's Cotswold Chase at Cheltenham.

"He was third in the Gold Cup last year and he's a bigger, stronger, better horse now," Skelton said. "You saw at Haydock when he's at his absolute best how good he can be.

"If he goes into the Gold Cup like he was at Haydock, the run in the Cotswold Chase will be significantly behind him and I think he's got a real good chance."

Protektorat is a best-priced 16-1 for the Gold Cup, with the Willie Mullins-trained Irish Gold Cup winner Galopin Des Champs hot favourite at no bigger than 13-8.

"Galopin Des Champs is the correct favourite. There's a small question mark over three miles two furlongs at Cheltenham, which Willie is convinced he will answer positively," Skelton said.

"Galopin Des Champs aside, it's a very open Gold Cup. Everyone's had a bit of a go at each other and there have been different results along the line.

"On our Haydock form we're right up there. That's 1lb short of a season-leading performance on Racing Post Ratings."

Assessing Protektorat's other rivals, the trainer said: "The most solid horse this season looks like Bravemansgame. Yes, he hasn't done it over three miles two at Cheltenham and you're not guaranteed to get that. But any question mark over how tough he would be when the going got tough was quickly and properly answered at Kempton. He looked like he could have been second but didn't want to be. He kicked on really well from the back of the last and looked like a true stayer, so he's very much a solid stayer.

"If A Plus Tard got a bit of nice ground he'd have to be a player; one bad run does not make a bad horse. Noble Yeats is a confirmed stayer and there's plenty to work on from the Cotswold. Stattler stays well.

"You get them there in the best shape you can and you win or you don't. But if I get Protektorat in the form from Haydock, he'll be bang there and he'll be threatening, no question."

Nube Negra: set to run in the Champion Chase againCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

Skelton is also looking forward to giving 2021 runner-up Nube Negra another crack at the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase.

"It's a very open race, everyone's beaten each other," he said. "This horse is very effective when he's very fresh, he's effective at Cheltenham and the better the ground the better his chance. It's a very unclear picture and we're very happy to have our hat in the ring."

The continuing dry weather means Skelton is set to give his Cheltenham team a day out at Southwell, where Aidan O'Brien sometimes sent his Breeders' Cup squad for a preparatory workout in the Fibresand days.

"We were going to go for a racecourse gallop next Friday but that's probably not going to happen because of the ground, so I'm probably going to seek permission from the team at Southwell to use the all-weather and give the horses a day out," he said.

"It's unusual ground, I've never experienced a February like this, and we've just got to do what we can in the circumstances. It's important they all get an awayday – we had plan A and now we've got plan B.

"For some it will be a hard piece of work, for some it will just be a day out. They can all have what they need."

Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup (Friday, March 17, 3.30)

bet365: 5-4 Galopin Des Champs, 6 A Plus Tard, Stattler, 7 Noble Yeats, 8 Bravemansgame, Conflated, 10 Ahoy Senor, 16 Protektorat, Sounds Russian, 20 bar

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