Williethebuilder makes impressive British debut for in-form Skelton team

Williethebuilder made an impressive start to his career in Britain after he breezed clear to land the 2m novice hurdle on his stable debut for Dan Skelton. 

The four-year-old was making his first start over hurdles after promising runs in Irish bumpers and was well fancied to make a winning start over obstacles, having been backed into 1-2 under Harry Skelton. 

The market optimism proved well founded as Williethebuilder shot clear of his rivals after the second-last flight, staying on strongly to score by 12 lengths from Olivers Travels. 

"We were very confident in him," Harry Skelton told Sky Sports Racing. "He showed a nice bit of form in Ireland, so I was delighted with the way he did it here. 

"At the second-last he was in the danger zone of going too quickly, but he's very forward and honest and has been showing all that at home. 

"He's a very lean, racy type of horse, he takes no getting ready. We've been lucky that the rain has come and we've been able to run him. It's a good start."

The success completed a double for Dan Skelton after his other runner Seefin delivered another wide-margin win in the 2m7½f handicap hurdle for conditional riders under Tristan Durrell. 

Result for Risk

Risk And Roll battled to success in the feature 3m handicap chase to notch his first win since January 2022 for trainer James Evans. 

The nine-year-old held off the late challenge of the Fergal O'Brien-trained Polish to score by half a length under conditional Tabitha Worsley. 

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