'Monster' worry: Dan Skelton says relentless focus on the festival is not right

Racing’s obsession with the Cheltenham Festival risks creating “a monster” by undermining the importance of races run outside of the fixture, and potentially lessening the interest of sponsors and the public in anything other than the famous four days in March.

That is the view of Dan Skelton, the winningmost trainer over jumps in Britain for the last three seasons and successful with Allmankind in the Grade 1 Henry VIII Novices’ Chase on the Tingle Creek undercard at Sandown on Saturday. He believes the “relentless focus” on the festival is chipping away at the foundations of the industry and leading to the bulk of the season losing its relevance.

“There’s so much attention on the Cheltenham Festival, it’s to the detriment of the rest of the season, and that’s not correct,” he said on Sunday.