Dan Skelton quickly gets out of the trap in the trainers’ title battle with a Cheltenham double

TThe feature race here on Friday had a finish worthy of the festival itself, as Harry Skelton summoned a final lunge to Fortune De Mer’s line in the grade two novice hurdle to beat Doctor Blue by a short margin. “He’s a quirky guy,” Dan Skelton, the winner’s trainer, said afterwards, “but he’s got a lot of ability, and that’s an 80-race race, so we won’t worry about the next one too soon.”

Skelton already has the County Hurdle at the festival meeting here in March as a long-term target for Friday’s winner – “it would suit him really well, lots of runners and smuggling him around in a race like that” – while the £48,000 first prize was supplemented by a further £52,000 towards his total prize money when Calico took on the handicap chase feature later on the card.

That was more than enough to extend Skelton’s lead at the top of the trainers’ table after Olly Murphy, currently his biggest rival, led the novice chase with Alnilam earlier on the card, and he currently has the chance to win the championship for the first time when the season ends in April.

But after seeing the prize snatched away by Willie Mullins’ familiar spring surge in each of the past two campaigns, he won’t take anything for granted until the last penny is counted.

“It’s a long way off, but we’re very lucky with the team we have,” Skelton said. “I think it’s stronger than last year, but the way Willie pushes you, it has to be stronger than last year.

“And everyone is doing their best and it amazes me, the level of competition at the moment, how fit they have to be now, and that’s before you even get to that point. [to the spring].”

The New Lion, unbeaten in five starts including the Turner’s Novice Hurdle at the Festival last season, will be a key horse in Skelton’s championship challenge and is on course to feature again in the Grade One Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle on November 29.

“Everything is going smoothly to get him to the Fighting Fifth, but you won’t hear me over-blow and tell you he’s going to win three Champion Hurdles,” Skelton said. “That’s not what horses need. We’ll prepare him as best we can and hopefully he’ll be a contender in March, but we’ve got some big days before that.”

Mountain can scale heights for O’Brien

Aidan O’Brien’s prospects of breaking his own record for Group 1 victories in a calendar year diminished last weekend when he missed all five top events on Champions Day at Ascot, but he appears to have an iron grip on Saturday’s Futurity Trophy in Doncaster, the final Group 1 of the British Flat season.

O’Brien fields three of the six runners – Benvenuto Cellini, Hawk Mountain and Action – and they fill the first three spots in the early betting, with Christophe Soumillon’s Mount Benvenuto Cellini leading the market at around 5-4.

The favorite was an emphatic five-length winner at Leopardstown last time and is the long-distance 12-1 market leader for next year’s Derby, but he is yet to race anything slower than good to soft.

However, Hawk Mountain was a comfortable winner on soft in the Group Two Beresford Stakes at the Curragh last month, making a useful time in the process.

Ronan Whelan, his jockey there, is holding the ride on Saturday and with the ground in Doncaster heavy after the recent rain, Hawk mountain (2.05) is a solid bet around 9-4 to score a record-extending 12th win in this race for his trainer.

Cheltenham 1.10 Inox Allen produced a fine jumping lap in his second chase start in April and this race should suit his front-running style.

Doncaster 1.30 This could be set for the hold-up runner Rosario, who would have been close last time with a clear run.

Cheltenham 1.45 Several promising newcomers in opposition with Minella Supreme the marginal choice around 5-1 given his trainer’s excellent track record.

Cheltenham 2.20 Dunboyne has been transformed by a stable move earlier this year and looks fairly tough on his fourth-place finish in the Irish Grand National in April.

Doncaster 2.40 A slight decrease in the figure should be sufficient Lam Yai after a close second place in Group Three last month.

Cheltenham 2.55 Winning Smut won a similar competition in Galway in August and certainly looks fit for the step up in the journey

Newbury 3.10 The shape of Stellar sunrise The nursery win at York in August was franked when the runner-up next entered a listed race and this Group Three looks like a logical next step.

Cheltenham 3.30 The progressive Give it to me Oy won 137 at Sandown in April and has a lot in hand over his rivals in a level-weights event here.

Newbury 3.45am Last year’s Zetland Stakes winner, starry eyes, still has some catching up to do with the favorite, Ancient Wisdom, on their form at Goodwood in September, but that was his first start in almost a year and he will appreciate the step up too.

Cheltenham 4.05 A good chance for the game and consistent Intensive approach to further improve an impressive pass rate.