EVER since a stunning 23-5 scoreline in favour of Ireland in the 2021 Prestbury Cup, there has been a gradual but noticeable fightback from British trainers at the Cheltenham Festival - and that trend could easily be set to continue into the showpiece meeting this spring.

It is unquestionable that one of the biggest drivers behind that attempted resurgence is Dan Skelton.

Across the last two Cheltenham Festivals, British-trained horses have won 19 of the 55 races run at the meeting. Ten different British-based trainers have had one winner at the Festival during that window, Paul Nicholls has contributed three and Skelton - the hosts’ clear standout shooter - has struck with an excellent six winners at the biggest dance of all in the last two years.

The fabulous four-timer he and brother Harry pulled off last spring was one of the standout takeaways from the 2024 Cheltenham Festival and another strong Skelton challenge looks to be incoming. There have already been two Grade 1 winners for the operation this season - thanks to L’Eau du Sud and the wildly exciting The New Lion - and his winner count of 128 (heading into yesterday’s racing) is already seven higher than he recorded in the entirety of last season. The Warwickshire-based team is motoring along at pace.

Skelton is rarely afraid to speak his mind and was in typically direct and passionate form, when sitting down to chat two months out from his latest Cheltenham charge.

Talk to me about your assessment of the season so far. Only once have you ended a season with a higher strike rate than your current 20% and you’re ahead of the previous campaign numerically too.

It’s been pretty good. We set out to have a faster start in the summer and always knew the winter horses were about the best bunch we’ve ever had. You need it all to go well for you, but everyone has worked very hard to make sure the chances we’ve had have been converted as often as possible. Grade 1 winners with L’Eau du Sud and The New Lion have been very important, and the older handicappers have played their part too. I don’t think we’ve shook the tree as hard as we can, in terms of winning those handicaps, but there’s been plenty of prize money out of them and I think we’ve hopefully got a good spring to come with ones that we haven’t over-raced. The cold spell enforced a little break on them the other day and I think that can only help with having a good finish to the season.

You’ve never made any secret of how desperately you want to become champion trainer. As it stands, you’re as short as 2/9 favourite to achieve that this season. Does that get you box-walking with three and a half months to go in the campaign or how does that make you feel?

I’d rather be 2/9 than 9/2 anyway! This time last year, there wasn’t a game to play for the championship; I didn’t think I’d win it, Willie Mullins hadn’t even been considered and Paul [Nicholls] looked like he’d just run away with it again. Cheltenham changed everything. It can do that. I think we’ll just have to take a good look at it again after that week, because that’s when it matters. Who knows what Willie could take out of Cheltenham?

Talk to me about last season’s championship. Willie Mullins becoming the first Irish-based trainer to win the British title since Vincent O’Brien 70 years earlier was hailed as a massive achievement on this side of the water, but I’m curious as to how the success was interpreted on the ground in Britain. For example, a British trainer winning the Irish title could give some cause for concern about the direction the industry is travelling in here.

What you’ve got to realise is that Willie has a phenomenal number of horses, but what sets him apart is the number of quality horses he has. I don’t think anyone on the ground thought it was a terrible sign, because everyone knows the depth he has. If Willie was out of sight in the championship after Cheltenham and won it that way, that would have been very concerning. Looking back on Cheltenham, and talking selfishly, Nicky [Henderson] not having a great meeting didn’t do me any favours from the trainers’ championship perspective. Nicky takes out a certain percentage of races and winnings at Cheltenham every year; maybe if Constitution Hill and Sir Gino were there, they could have done that [in two races that Mullins won last year]. Once Willie got to the other side of Cheltenham with the possibility of winning the title and started to send runners over to meetings like Ayr, I knew we were in trouble. Throughout that spring, there were so many moments where he had to win a major race, the Aintree Grand National, Scottish Grand National, the Bet365 Gold Cup, and he did it every time. That was the most incredible part of what Willie did. Even if Langer Dan had won the Aintree Hurdle [when a close third to Impaire Et Passe], there’s a significant prize money swing in that moment. That’s sport and I’m not rueing it at all. At the end of the day, I never felt the title was taken away from me. For a moment after Cheltenham, I thought I might do it, but once I saw Willie’s Aintree entries, I knew we needed a miracle.

There’s a feeling this season that Britain could have a meaningful fightback in the Cheltenham Festival picture. The home team can call on the likes of Sir Gino, Constitution Hill, Jonbon, The New Lion, The Jukebox Man, Windbeneathmywings and East India Dock as being high up in the Grade 1 races’ ante-post markets. Can you feel the wheel of power in National Hunt racing beginning to turn a little back towards Britain this season?

I think you can, but things were never as negative here as people made out. Ireland got the jump on Britain and got momentum up. What I think happened then is that some British trainers decided not to run at Cheltenham, because things weren’t going their way. Yes, there are times when I haven’t run horses at Cheltenham because I know the track won’t suit the horse, but in comparison to how maybe some others haven’t gone for competition reasons, I feel a lot of Irish trainers instead have the mindset of ‘this is Cheltenham, we’re going’. During that time when we were really getting our arses kicked, there were things at play. It wasn’t as simple as Irish horses and Irish trainers are better. Cheltenham as a track doesn’t suit all horses and I think one of the biggest negatives to British National Hunt racing is the proximity of Aintree to Cheltenham. I’m going to be bringing this up during the spring. It’s always close, but there are only 19 days in between this year. It’s ridiculous that we’ve almost got to choose between our two biggest meetings here. I think Aintree should be moved to the end of the season. I’ve spoken to a lot of the players in the industry and there’s a lot of support for it. There shouldn’t be a problem with watering for the Grand National course, that’s not a concern. Nothing else is on that weekend from a sporting perspective that Aintree would clash with in that new spot too. Yes, it would be the week before Punchestown, but very few horses take in all three of Cheltenham, Aintree and Punchestown nowadays.

I failed to mention L’Eau du Sud in that list of British contenders for the Festival. He’s 14/1, but is there any chance he could shake up Sir Gino in the Arkle?

I think he’s overlooked, though everyone was rightly taken by Sir Gino at Kempton. The way he moves his feet before a fence is so impressive and he’s got Grade 1 ability as a hurdler. We know he’ll be hard to beat, but the Arkle is a different test at a different track, and there won’t be any hanging around or warming up. He deserves to be favourite, but we won’t be going there thinking he’s unbeatable.

You took a bit of flak from different quarters for your comments a couple of seasons ago when using the word “freebie” to describe how certain Grade 1 races were unfolding in Ireland to the advantage of Willie Mullins’ horses. Do you still feel the same way about those races now?

When I said that, it was taken completely out of context. What I meant by my comments was that Willie’s horses were so superior that they weren’t having hard prep races. That’s what I was saying. It’s hard enough to beat the best horses any time, but when they have the perfect preparation without a hard race before the championship, it’s even harder. If they had tough races before Cheltenham, you might use that as a positive for when you’re taking them on at the Festival. As for this season, it feels like from watching the racing that Gordon [Elliott] has been putting it up to everyone and Joseph O’Brien has been having a tremendous run. I don’t know what people in Ireland think, but it views a little bit different to me. To be honest, I think racing on both sides of the Irish Sea has been more competitive this season than has been the case for some time. You’re not getting so many wide-margin winners in the big races and I don’t think there’ll be as many odds-on shots at Cheltenham this season. Racing has gotten very competitive and that’s because it’s harder and harder to get the very best horses, who can put 10 lengths between them and the rest in Grade 1 company. Those horses are hard to find, whether you’re Willie or anyone else. Okay, we mightn’t be getting big fields of 18 runners in some of those top races, but even when there were fields like that, only a small number of them really counted anyway.

What do you see as the biggest challenge facing racing as we head into 2025?

I think we need less racing in the UK. There’s way too much and that ends up diluting fields on a day-to-day basis. When looking at novice hurdles specifically, you’ve probably got six to eight different options in a week in Britain. You might draw a line through two or three, because you’d rather not go to a certain course or live near it, but you’ve still got the option of five races. Are five really good horses going to debut every week? Not necessarily. You can end up with a 1/3 shot in a race and people mightn’t want to run against that for fear of their horse getting near one with graded aspirations, which can impact your own handicap mark. If we had less racing, you’d have to run and it would make the form more reliable, it’s worth more. I like J.P. McManus’ idea of having less runners in Cheltenham Festival handicaps. It’s perfect. It means everyone has to do more to get in, you have to be a better horse. Some people say that not all major handicaps are filling in anyway, like the Ladbrokes Hurdle [at Ascot last month with 12 runners], but that’s because you have an option the week before and after.

Speaking of J.P. McManus, the big news to emerge post Christmas was that The New Lion had been sold by Darren Yates to J.P. after a brilliant display in the Challow. Did you get the same ‘wow factor’ as the rest of us from that performance?

For sure. You know, I always hoped he could be that good. What sets him apart is his mind; he’s got a great mind. If I galloped him with 100 others, you wouldn’t pick him out. He wouldn’t be flash or pull up the best of any group, but he understands how to race. He’s got the ability to relax, but then keep going at the end of a race, the most vital part. He’s exciting. The more experience he’s getting, the stronger he’s becoming, the better he’s proving to be. I don’t think he’s the finished article by any means.

The New Lion (black colours) has been bought by J.P. McManus since his bloodless win in the Challow Hurdle \ Healy Racing

If you still feel we haven’t seen the best of him, yet it can look like a PlayStation game of G1 Jockey for Harry in winning a Grade 1, could this be the best horse you’ve ever trained?

He could easily be. I always say My Drogo was the best I had - as a very good novice hurdler - but he wasn’t easy to train. He was unbelievably talented, just unfortunately had problems. The New Lion is a much more easily trainable model. He could be the best we’ve had, though horses like Protektorat set a good standard.

Darren has since stated his intentions to leave the sport at the end of this season. Naturally, that must be very disappointing for your operation. Did you have any prior inkling that was coming?

Darren has talked about getting out before and, if that’s what he wants to do, that’s it. We found him some nice horses and created a nice team. I think he enjoys his racing when he goes. It’s his decision to sell The New Lion and I don’t know if he’s happy or not that he sold him. If he’s going to get out, there’s not a lot I can do about that.

On the topic of recruitment, I spotted you purchasing flat yearlings alongside Megan Nicholls at Tattersalls in October with a view to ultimately producing them as dual-purpose juvenile hurdlers. Does that send a clear message as to how difficult it can be to source those juvenile hurdling types off the flat nowadays?

You just can’t buy a really good flat horse now. They’re either way too expensive or jarred up from coming off the flat; it’s very hard to do. I think the best horses to come off the flat [for jumping] are often ending up in Willie’s system in France that has worked very well. Other horses haven’t changed hands and gone jumping - I think they might be the best ones other than that. There’s a massive disparity in the UK at the moment with our juvenile hurdles; they’re worth an unbelievable amount of money. You see a Grade 2 juvenile hurdle worth £80,000 and, with respect, they’re being contested by horses who wouldn’t hold a candle to the horses running in the graded novice hurdle on the same card for £55,000. I’ve made numerous points on this. I think the prize money is completely incorrect and there should be more money for novice hurdles, not juvenile hurdles. More money is being spent on horses like point-to-pointers to go the conventional route, if you want to call it that, than horses coming off the flat to go jumping. It isn’t as achievable to even buy those horses from the flat, because they’re often gone to Australia, the Middle East and so on. Look at the statistics over the years... Which group ends up the better each season of the juveniles or the novices? It’s invariably the novices. The BHA have got their prize money on this front completely wrong.

Speaking to you before Cheltenham last year, it was clear you placed proper emphasis on getting a team ready for the meeting and it paid off, to say the least. Your quartet of winners from the 2024 Festival have yet to win this season, but I doubt you’re overly panicked. What’s the latest with the Skeltenham contingent for 2025?

Grey Dawning is being trained for a tilt at the Gold Cup after readily landing last season's Turners Novices' Chase \ Healy Racing

To have four winners last year was just incredible. We hoped we’d get one. Going into the week, I’d have said Grey Dawning or L’Eau du Sud were my best chances of the week - one won and the other was second. Langer Dan doesn’t get the chance to run in the Coral Cup this year - he’s been running pretty moderately, but then he always does in the winter. I feel we’ve got chances every day. Protektorat went off a double-figure price in the Ryanair last year and won. I still think he’ll be competitive in the same race again this time; he won’t know what price he is. Kempton was a disaster for Grey Dawning [when pulled up in the King George]. I’m not saying we missed a winner because he made a mistake at the first, but with the way the race was run, we got out of our comfort zone - as was the case for most horses. It was all over at the first, we could have come back into the paddock at that stage. That’s sport and we’re not moaning about it. I need to speak with his owner [Robert Kirkland], who is an unbelievably good man to deal with and always puts the horse first, but we’ve got an entry in the Gold Cup and it’s appropriate to have it.

I heard you mention in an interview not long ago that you don’t tend to get worked up by social media nowadays, but there’s obviously no shortage of chatter around Langer Dan and his difference in form when he runs at this time of year. When that chat is striking up season after season, does it ever get under your skin to hear people online talking about how he’s campaigned?

I couldn’t care less. This year, he’s running in conditions races rated 160; what more evidence do you want? I’d love to be winning the Long Walk and the Relkeel Hurdle with him, but he just won’t do it. I’m trying to be champion trainer this season, it’d be bloody handy if he could win those races to help with that side of things! He just won’t. I’ve told everyone this, but they all seem to think I’m telling porky pies about it. You can see it with your own eyes; he won’t go in the winter. I know why the handicapper hasn’t dropped him after two runs this season. He’s frightened of his life to do it because everyone would be emailing him asking why, and I don’t think that’s right either. He’s clearly not running to his mark of 160 so the handicapper should be dropping him. What does he think he’s going to do? That he’ll drop him to 155 and he’ll win? Not going to happen. Langer Dan is a polarising horse, because even though those who hate him want to love him, really. He’s won back-to-back Coral Cups, that’s never been done before, and the handicapper is frightened to death of him. The only person who’s in control of Langer Dan is Langer Dan. All he did last year was done on trust. He bled the time before he won. No magic wand was waved, we just trusted him to do it at the time of year he’d done it before. We’ll let him have a go at the Stayers’ Hurdle this year.

You wouldn’t hear of defeat for Grey Dawning in the lead up to last year’s meeting. As it stands, what is your best chance of a winner at the 2025 Cheltenham Festival?

The New Lion [the quickest response of the interview!].

There was high praise from Ruby Walsh at last year’s Cheltenham Festival for Harry, after winning with real patience and confidence on Protektorat in the Ryanair. Ruby felt the old Harry Skelton wouldn’t have ridden the same race, but that he has evolved as a rider. I’m interested to know about how you feel you’ve evolved as a trainer in recent years. Are there changes you’ve made in your system that have helped you operate at a higher level?

The first thing is that you become a better trainer with better horses. Sourcing the horses is the most important bit and that’s massively hard. But then the training, the one thing you cannot put a price on is patience. To be honest, the longer you do it the more patient you can become, because the owners trust you and the system you’ve employed in the past to get results.

The New Lion is a great example of that. I didn’t run him as a four-year-old [now six], because it’d have been the wrong thing to do. It might have left him a lesser horse. As you evolve, you get more patient. With more patience, you give the horse the chance to be their best. It’s hard to get a horse to overperform more than once. It’s not like they can do that their whole career. Getting them to their best means you’ve done your job. What I think is a real shame from a training perspective is if you get to the end of a horse’s career and feel regret over things you’ve done, that you feel you’d have got more out of them with a different approach. I’m very keen to avoid those mistakes.