Dan Skelton and Willie Mullins run two each in £70,000 Silver Trophy Handicap Chase

The title race between Dan Skelton and Willie Mullins is the big talking point in the final two weeks of the British jumps season, and the pair are responsible for the top three in the betting in this £70,000 event. 

Mullins runs two horses with contrasting profiles. Classic Getaway carries joint top weight – along with Emma Lavelle’s Hang In There – and has form figures of 321 in Graded chases this season. He recorded a Racing Post Rating of 159 when beating Saint Sam at Gowran, suggesting his official mark of 157 is not necessarily beyond him.

O’Moore Park, on the other hand, carries just 10st 9lb and belied odds of 66-1 when third behind Caldwell Potter in the Jack Richards Novices’ Handicap Chase at the festival last month. He has a 1-11 record under rules, though, and faces more battle-hardened handicappers here.

Skelton runs outsider Harper’s Brook, who steps back up in trip, but his chief hope of picking up prize-money is recent Ayr winner Riskintheground. He has to defy a 10lb higher mark, though, and takes on classier rivals. 

Blow Your Wad, a Pendil winner in his novice chase campaign, is interesting on the back of a creditable return at Kempton in February, but preference is for the Nicky Henderson-trained Bhaloo if there is not too much overnight rain.

Nico de Boinville’s mount had Riskintheground back in fifth when winning at Newbury last month, with that victory taking his form figures on good ground for Henderson to 31211. He has plenty of scope for more improvement in such conditions.
Analysis by Jack Haynes

Can Moon D'Orange make it six from seven for McConnell?

John McConnell does not have the trainers’ championship on his agenda like Willie Mullins and Dan Skelton, but he has enjoyed a level of dominance similar to his counterparts in Britain since Grand National day.

Five of McConnell’s last six runners in Britain have won and Callum Pritchard, who partnered two of those winners at Kelso last Monday, has been booked for Moon D'Orange in a bid to keep the County Meath trainer’s red-hot run going.

Moon D'Orange (left): successful at this track and trip on Trials dayCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

Pritchard’s claim means Moon D'Orange is only 3lb worse off than for his course-and-distance success on Trials day, and 3lb lower than when sent off the same 7-1 price as the winner Caldwell Potter in the Jack Richards Novices' Limited Handicap Chase.

McConnell said: “He dropped his hind legs in the water last time at Cheltenham, which put paid to his chances. It's a smaller field, but we'd be hoping he can jump a bit better.”

What they say

Emma Lavelle, trainer of Hang In There
He's not big and giving that weight away to decent horses is always a tough ask for him. He seems to have been up to that challenge over the years, though, and he ran well in the race last year.

Paul Nicholls, trainer of Il Ridoto
He obviously likes the track, Freddie [Gingell, jockey] gets on well with him and he's a Paddy Power Gold Cup winner. He's well capable of winning, but he hasn't performed in the spring for the last couple of years and ran awfully in this race last year, so we're going into it in the dark a little bit.

Tom Lacey, trainer of Blow Your Wad
He had his first run back from a carpal bone injury at Kempton in February. He's run around Cheltenham before and seems in good nick, but we could just do with a drop of rain.

Dan Skelton, trainer of Harper's Brook and Riskintheground
We're trying something a bit different with Harper's Brook. We're just slowing the tempo down because he's finding two miles quick enough while the ground is decent. Riskintheground is turned out again quickly, but he won really well last week. I had this race in mind for him before Ayr. He's travelled back from Scotland well and looks great.
Reporting by Charlie Huggins

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