'There's plenty of room in her handicap mark and I think she's one to follow this season'

Dan Skelton has never been one to rest on his laurels and he will be hoping to build on the successes of last season, when he won a career-best £2.6 million in prize-money and was a major force in many of the biggest races, most notably during a lucrative spell in the run-up to Christmas.

Gold Cup fifth Protektorat, who bids to record back-to-back victories in the Betfair Chase on Saturday, was the standout performer but the likes of Le Milos, Nube Negra, Ashtown Lad and Cheltenham Festival winners Langer Dan and Faivoir more than pulled their weight and are all back for more this campaign.

"You have to have had a good season to record your best prize-money and we had a golden run this time last year," said Skelton. "We're one of the bigger yards numerically and with that comes the expectation you should figure in a lot of the better races – we're happy to be in that position but it does mean that we have to keep pushing forwards.