Panic Attack, a nine-year-old mare revived by a move to the Dan Skelton yard, gave her new stable’s bid for a first victory in the National Hunt trainers’ championship a significant boost with a 6-1 success in the Paddy Power Gold Cup.
Skelton became the first trainer to pass on £1million in prize money after a win in the main event on Friday’s card and he took both the £91,000 first prize for Panic Attack’s four-length defeat to Vicenzo, the favourite, and a further £17,000 for Hoe Joly Smoke’s third-place finish.
“That [the title] It’s still a long way off but it’s pretty clear we’ve got the best team we’ve ever had,” said Skelton, who celebrated his first success in the first big handicap chase of the season. “But there’s no point in knocking on the door, they’ve got to keep pushing through it.
“The horses of old were brilliant and they came through a lot of doors, but when you have a bigger team it just feels easier.”
Short manualGreg Wood’s Sunday tips
Show
Cheltenham: 1.15 Gaelic Pride 1.45 Jordans Cross (nb) 2.20 Glengouly (nap) 2.55 Tanganyika 3.30 Alexei 4.00 Bud Fox
Skelton is 2-5 odds with Paddy Power to claim a maiden title success after being edged out by Willie Mullins in the final weeks of the season in each of the last two campaigns. Mullins is 7-4 for a third success in a row, while Paul Nicholls, who needs one more championship to equal Martin Pipe’s record of 15, has 16-1 odds.
This story will be updated
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