How Dan Skelton is on the verge of a special kind of history at Sandown

On a day of Champion Hurdle deja vu at Newcastle, it was understandable that Saturday’s post-racing chatter centred on little else other than the Fighting Fifth Hurdle.

But as the discourse around Constitution Hill raged in column inches, pubs and social media feeds, it meant the day’s other big race took a back seat.

Dan Skelton had plenty of skin in the Newcastle game too, thanks to The New Lion’s own untimely fall, but it meant his remarkable achievement in making Panic Attack the first horse to complete the Paddy Power Gold-Cup-Coral Gold Cup double in 21 years was slightly glossed over.