After a rollercoaster of a first day at the Aintree festival, trainer and jockey brothers Dan and Harry Skelton found themselves on the runner up podium four times on day one, with hopes of getting over the line on day two.
Harry and Dan are two of the most exciting up and coming jockey and trainer duo, but the first day at Aintree proved they are still lengths behind legendary trainer Willie Mullins. The Skelton’s had an amazing Cheltenham festival, The New Lion being the standout of the festival, but heading into the Aintree festival with an amazing inventory of seriously impressive horses, the Skelton’s just couldn't quite get over the line across the races.
Starting at 13:45, Dan and Harry had their fist horse Boombawn, an eight year old outsider who placed fourth in the opening race of the festival, getting the brothers off to an ok start with a decently run race by Boombawn. A good press on the leaders saw Boombawn make a good bit of room to manoeuvre, but allowing down towards the finish, the Skelton’swould have to settle for fourth in the opener.
But it all started to heat up at 14:20. With Live Conti being one of the tips of the week for a lot of racing bloggers, he took a keen hold and ran a great race, while Murcia was out of sight, Conti ran an excellent race as a 16/1 outsider, giving the Skelton’s their first runner up of the day, only behind the deadly duo of Townend and Mullins.
Over half an hour later in the 14:55, Harry rode one of their better horses coming into the festival, Grey Dawning. Harry ran an exceptional race, holding a great position all race until after the final hurdle being beaten by Mullins again as Gaelic Warrior took the win, Dan frustrated with another second place finish.
Despite having some great runners early in the day, the Skelton’s fell short on all other occasions across the day too. Third with Take No Chances at 15:30, second with Jet Plane in the amateurs at 16:05, another second with Calico who ran a race fit for a winner, and 10th with Getawhisky in the final race of the day.
On top of falling short on almost every occasion for the Skelton’s, Dan’s position at the top of the trainers championship could be in doubt, as even with 158 wins over the season, Willie Mullins who has taken almost every bit of prize money available at Cheltenham and Aintree so far may surpass him by the end of the season. Regardless of whether Mullins has the most earnings, and can be seen as the best trainer in racing, Dan has showcased his training at every level this year, and with 158 wins he has proved to everyone that he could be the next best trainer. His brother and main jockey Harry who won the jockey’s championship earlier today won £500 thousand, but with an achievement of the trainers championship as well as the jockey’s championship at the tip of his fingers, Dan despite having an amazing year could still lose out once again to Mullins.
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