'I've done the right thing' - Skelton banking on fresh approach for Cheltenham

Dan Skelton is convinced the formula of fresh horses for the festival is the correct one and is growing in confidence stable stars Protektorat, Nube Negra and Shan Blue can add weight to that theory at Cheltenham in a fortnight.

Skelton hosted the media at his successful Warwickshire yard on Monday when he paraded his team for jumping's most significant week. They included Protektorat, Britain's best hope of Boodles Gold Cup glory according to bookmakers, and Nube Negra and Shan Blue, contenders for the Betway Champion Chase and Ryanair respectively.

The three horses have not raced in 2022, but Skelton's three County Hurdle winners Superb Story, Mohaayed and Ch'tibello were all kept off the track from the previous calendar year until March.

Skelton did not flinch when it was put to him he might have egg on his face should the three fail to fire. "Absolutely not," he said, "It's an opinion and, with the greatest of respect, I know I've done the right thing.

"If it goes wrong, it goes wrong. I've got 100 per cent conviction in this. If someone says Shan Blue didn't win the Ryanair because he's not run since the Charlie Hall that's nonsense. People can believe it, but nothing will convince me otherwise.

"They have to be fresh and the more you do this the more you realise that. It's a requirement because what's coming at Cheltenham is so intense – so far beyond a normal race. You have to be so ready and, in those championship races, they turn it up. If you're not fresh and well and can't take that, it's over.

"The vast majority of horses must be fresh to do their very best. It's so hard to win at the festival and if you don't go there fresh, I genuinely don't think you can win."

Protektorat: Gold Cup hope is 8-1 for the big oneCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

Skelton, at Paul Nicholls' side for the Gold Cup triumphs of the mighty Kauto Star and Denman, has a special place in his heart for the Cheltenham showpiece, for which Protektorat, last seen winning the Grade 2 Many Clouds Chase on December 4, is an 8-1 shot.

"I'm very happy with him," he added. "We made the decision after he won to wait for the Gold Cup. The ground might have been horrendous for a prep race and we could have left our Gold Cup there; the negatives of running this side of the new year far outweighed the positives.

"Out of the festival winners I've had, only Roksana ran in the same calendar year and she desperately needed a run to get ready for the Mares' Hurdle. It's such a big occasion and you've got to get them prepared.

"Protektorat stays all day and I hope he gives us a right chance. I don't see any negatives – he won't mind getting dirty if it turns into one of those gritty Gold Cups."

Tingle Creek fourth Nube Negra ran the same day as his stablemate and is 10-1 to improve on his second in last year's Champion Chase.

"His coat is days away from being perfect," Skelton purred. "He'll look magnificent on the day. The most important thing with him is to be super, super fresh; he puts so much into his runs it just empties the tank.

Nube Negra (left): was second in the Champion Chase 12 months agoCredit: Tim Goode (Getty Images)

"The better the ground, the better his chance. He'd win because we had a dry spell and they go fast, and maybe Shishkin underperforms a pound or two and maybe Energumene had a hard race at Ascot.

"I'm aware of the facts of this race and know those horses have put up bigger numbers. I hope we win it on merit and don't think it's a million to one we do; he ran brilliantly last year and anyone can see why we're positive."

Shan Blue has a longer layoff to overcome as his absence stretches back to a crunching fall the day before Halloween in the Charlie Hall.

"He'd have won with a clear run, but he didn't and hurt his neck in that fall," Skelton added. "I know his mark of 148 might have people salivating, but he's a Grade 1 horse and has to be in Grade 1s.

"For those saying you've got to take advantage of his mark, you'd have others saying that's a chicken route for a horse who was going to win a good Graded race by a long way.

"He looks incredible and will have no excuses. I really like this horse and there's unfinished business; he cannot be better."

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