Le Milos Carrying Skelton Hopes Into Battle At Haydock
Victory for Le Milos in the ₤ 100,000 Unibet Middle Distance Veterans' Handicap Chase at Haydock would be extremely welcome for Dan Skelton, as he tries to ward off the might of Willie Mullins.
For the 2nd year in a row Skelton has seen a considerable benefit in the trainers' title race quickly decrease, after Mullins dominated at Cheltenham, took the lion's share of the ₤ 1million on deal in the Grand National and after that had the one-two in last weekend's Scottish National.
Races with this amount of prize-money - with ₤ 51,440 for top place - away from the huge conferences are rare, and with Mullins not having a runner, it is an excellent opportunity for Skelton to retreat before the Closutton maker rolls into Plumpton and Perth over the next couple of days.
Three runs ago Le Milos won in veterans' company and having actually been out at Newbury and Aintree given that, need to find life a little much easier versus horses more his age.
"We ran him at Aintree as we were looking for someplace where the ground would be best for him," stated Ladbrokes ambassador Skelton.
"The ground up here will be no problem; he's won on great ground before, and he's in excellent type.
Le Milos won the 2022 Coral Gold Cup (John Walton/PA)
"He's running well, and undoubtedly won at Warwick versus the veterans, and this is the very first time he's been back versus the veterans since that day. Hopefully he's one of the players in this league and he can go well here."
Skelton is currently 3-1 with Ladbrokes to claim a very first title after keeping Mullins (2-9) at arm's length through the week.
Last year's winner Numitor is back for more for Heather Main.
The grey has actually enjoyed a great season this term too, winning three of his five getaways - consisting of last time out at Ascot - however that suggests he is almost a stone greater in the weights.
"Numitor is actually well. This has actually been our goal the whole season and he is ready to go," stated Main.
"Ascot last time wasn't the plan but it ended up being his preparation race for the final on Saturday.
"We didn't know if he would remain and while he had actually run on quicker ground, with a huge horse like him you are never ever quite sure. But in the end he liked the ground and he enjoyed 3 miles. Hopefully that run wasn't too close however he needed a prep run due to the fact that there had actually been a little a space since he last ran.
"Although he has run mostly in smaller fields, I do not think field size is important to him as long as he enters a rhythm. He likes racing and he enjoys jumping - he simply pings them which is what he is everything about."
Regarding the additional weight Main stated: "It does not worry me too much although I don't desire to be extremely positive. He is such a huge horse and we feel the bigger they are, the more they are able to bring the weight. I hope that shows the case on Saturday."
Joe Tizzard runs both Eldorado Allen and The Widow Maker, Henry Hogarth's Flic Ou Voyou arrives on the back of a win while Dubai Days (Nick Alexander) has actually been targeted at this all season.