Only two brothers – not 12 – needed for this modern fairytale

By far the most totemic song to emerge from the American Depression was that searing anthem to dark days Brother Can You Spare A Dime immortalised by Al Jolson, Rudy Vallee and, most famously, Bing Crosby.

Readers under 100 should feel free to Google the names.
But leaving the Skelton domain earlier this week I concluded that there are two brothers, flying in recent seasons, who these days could certainly afford a dime – or even a bank draft – to help the less fortunate. Brothers in alms perhaps.

This season Dan Skelton has trained 65 winners, with brother Harry on the 59 mark – about a dozen behind that barnstormer Dickie Johnson. It has been a bountiful summer harvest, with the season proper still to come.