'It's not the biggest race of the year but not many will give me more enjoyment'

Saturday: Wetherby

Charlie Hall day turned out much better for Dan Skelton in 2022, 12 months after the agony of seeing Shan Blue's fall three out when 20 lengths clear in the big chase.

This time time, however, Molly Ollys Wishes and Proschema gave the trainer a big-race double on the day that Shan Blue himself returned to full fitness. And success in the bet365 Mares' Hurdle made Skelton so excited you would have thought he had won a dozen Charlie Halls.

He was thrilled to see Dean Pugh's gutsy Molly Ollys Wishes battle to a repeat of last year's victory in a Listed race run over a mile short of what is arguably her best trip. And he was just as delighted to marvel at the ride his brother Harry – the champion jump jockey in 2020-21 – gave the 15-8 favourite to get her home a length and a quarter clear of Martello Sky (2-1).

"That was mega," Skelton said. "It's not the biggest race of the year but not many will give me more enjoyment than that. She's won two two-mile races when she's actually a three-miler and she's just a credit to everybody. Dean and his family bred her, she's English breeding through and through and she's won £100,000 in GB bonuses.

"For those who think that Harry was a lucky champion jockey, just go and watch that. He was different class. I know it was a no-nonsense ride, sit up against the one who makes the running, but your horse and rider have got to be tough and they both were."

Molly Ollys Wishes: repeated her victory from 12 months agoCredit: Edward Whitaker

Molly Ollys Wishes will be given plenty of time to recover from her efforts after landing the seventh win of her career and taking her haul of prize-money past £100,000.

Skelton said: "She's magnificent. That's probably a better run than in this race last year so she clearly isn't deteriorating. It was a great race, I'm just delighted to come out on top, to have a hard race like that and be second is gutting.

"I'll leave her now and you might not see her until Ascot in January and the race she won last season."

Things got even better for the Skeltons half an hour later as Proschema ran out an impressive winner of the West Yorkshire Hurdle, improving on his second place of 12 months earlier and scoring for the first time since May 2021.

"That was absolutely brilliant," the trainer said. "It was absolutely top drawer. I'm chuffed to bits. It was a very high-quality performance and I couldn't be more delighted with the team.

"That's a brilliant result for this horse. I'll probably go to Newbury with him now and keep him away from heavy ground. He's a million to one for the Long Walk and he'd be a zillion to one for the Cleeve. We'll look at the festival and Aintree."

Trainer and jockey ended the day with another winner as Rocky Man landed the concluding handicap hurdle, completing a treble on the card for the team. And there was more good news following a positive update on Shan Blue, who has been under a cloud with a mystery foot ailment.

Four or five veterinary opinions had been sought in an attempt to diagnose the problem, but the trainer reported: "This morning was probably the first time he was 100 per cent sound. He's missed a lot of work so we couldn't have brought him here, but I hope to have him ready around Christmas."

Reflecting on the good form of his string, Skelton said: "We weren't all that hard on our horses in August and early September, and a lot of them were blowing up jumping two out. I felt last week they were just ten days off and I'm delighted to see they've stepped forward."

Replays, results and analysis

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