L'Eau Du Sud 'in great form' as he bids to maintain his flawless novice chase campaign under a penalty

If this were a hurdle race, then Rubaud would have a serious chance of lowering L’Eau Du Sud’s colours because he is rated 11lb higher over hurdles and he gets 5lb from him now.

Even on chase ratings L’Eau Du Sud isn’t entitled to beat Rubaud on these terms. There is 3lb between them in L’Eau Du Sud’s favour, but again the 5lb he concedes has him second in.

However, Rubaud has run only once over fences and was miles behind when falling at the last. He was trailing two of the top prospects in Sir Gino and Ballyburn at Kempton that day, though, and this will give us a better indication of what he is capable of over fences.

If he fluffs his lines again then L’Eau Du Sud will need to do nothing more than jump round to win because he is rated more than 20lb better than the others, Tedley and Riskintheground.

There's no reason to think that jumping round will be a problem for L’Eau Du Sud either. He has looked about as sound in that department as any novice in recent years and only an awkward shape at the last gave backers any reason for concern at Sandown last time.

Skelton won this in 2021 with Allmankind and it’s his favourite trial for the Arkle, so it will be a major surprise if L’Eau Du Sud can’t earn his place at Cheltenham with an easy victory.
Analysis by Graeme Rodway

What they say

Dan Skelton, trainer of L’Eau Du Sud and Riskintheground
We’ve had this race in mind for L’Eau Du Sud for a while and he goes there in great form. The ground and track should be fine for him and we are looking forward to getting him out. He has a penalty to carry but hopefully that should be doable. Riskintheground is a bit high in the handicap right now and if I’d run him in one, he wouldn’t be picking up as much prize-money as this. If he puts in a clear round he could pick up nearly £4,000, so it seems like a sensible thing to do.

 Paul Nicholls, trainer of Rubaud
 If it dried up it would help him. He ran behind two smart horses the last day and jumped well until he made a mistake at the last. If the ground was good I'd really fancy him, but being soft I probably don't. We've just got to get some more experience into him. There's a very limited number of races horses like him can run in.  

Willy Twiston-Davies, assistant to Nigel, trainer of Tedley
He’s a consistent horse who is entitled to take his chance and anything above third will be a bonus against the front two.
Reporting by David Milnes 

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