SKELTON LOOKS A BORN WINNER THANKS TO DAD
Some are born with success already coursing through their veins. Dan Skelton reckons he knew the often stark difference between success and failure while still in short trousers.
It came from having a father who is one of the most successful British showjumpers ever. Nick Skelton has won almost everything in his sport, including a team gold at the London 2012 olympics, but Dan (below) also saw the flip side of the coin.
He said: ‘When I was growing up, when my dad was winning, we were doing well. That was how he made his living – by winning. When he wasn’t winning, things were not so good.
‘It was almost tangible. It was not a difficult thing for me to get a grip of. I want to win with everything and be top of the pile.’
Skelton, 30, is trying to explain the origins of the burning ambition and steely determination that have taken him from first- season rookie to third in the train- ers’ championship table in only his third season. It is a rush through the gears of Formula one proportions and Skelton, having now laid the foundations, argues he is only just at phase one.
The trainer, whose Warwickshire stable has turned out 54 winners of over £500,000 in prize money this season to leave only former boss Paul Nicholls and Philip Hobbs ahead of him in the title race, added: ‘There were almost two dials for us at the start of the season. one was turning up the quantity and the other turning up the quality.
‘ I feel there is a lot more emphasis on the quality dial because the numbers are where we want them to have a chance of being up there with the best.’
It is a first Grade one that Skelton now has in his sights and he believes he already has the horses in his stable capable of delivering. They include last week’s Newbury winners Three musketeers – Britain’s top-rated novice chaser, impressive juvenile hurdler Kasakh Noir, recent Haydock winner Baradari and Willow’s Saviour – who runs in tomorrow’s Grade one Henry VIII Novices’ Chase at Sandown.
Then there is Al Ferof, currently the highest-rated horse in Skelton’s stable.
The John Hales- owned grey, a dual Grade one scorer, Cheltenham Festival winner and 2014 King George VI Chase third, has been switched from the Nicholls stable and makes his debut for his new trainer in Sunday’s £65,000 Peterborough Chase, the biggest race of the season at Huntingdon.
Skelton, whose younger brother Harry is stable jockey, said: ‘He moved with Paul’s blessing. He is a high-class horse and I think he can still do it.
‘We have given him a racecourse gallop at Warwick. He has to carry a 10lb penalty which I view as the only negative.’