'It's not good' - Skelton puts forward reasons for small Betfair Chase entry

Dan Skelton on Wednesday highlighted jump racing's obsession with the Cheltenham Festival, the early-closing entry system and the presence of Gold Cup winner A Plus Tard as contributing factors to only six horses figuring among the initial entries for the Betfair Chase at Haydock on November 19 (3.00).

Skelton has had the first Grade 1 of the season over jumps in Britain in mind for Protektorat since the summer but pointed to a multitude of possible reasons why he will face a maximum of five rivals in 17 days' time.

"Small fields are a really hard thing," said the trainer. "People are getting more and more concentrated. There's an article in today's paper saying we're in an era where people believe they can only run their top horses to a high level once or twice. That's not a myth – it's a fact.

"It really is that hard on the horses and you can only have them at their best a certain number of times in their lifetimes, so people have started to pick and choose more.

"Add to the fact everybody has built up Cheltenham and everybody is picking this road to Cheltenham. Then everyone is chucking their toys out the pram when they get small fields for something else! Don't inflate Cheltenham so much and make everything else a bit more important and you might find that it's a little bit more level.

"I don't want to be the man who says it's not all about Cheltenham. I know it's the most important four days of the year but you can't have your cake and eat it. You can't sell the whole industry off the back of Cheltenham."

Protektorat, third in last season's Gold Cup, was among the stars Skelton paraded as part of a Jockey Club press event at his yard in Warwickshire, and the trainer also highlighted the early closing status of the Betfair Chase as potentially contributing to the dearth of initial entries.

Dan Skelton: believes 'there's more to come from Protektorat'Credit: Mike Egerton (Getty Images)

"I'm not convinced by these early closing races," he said. "Would you have got more entries if you had closed this race the Monday before? I'm not saying don't have early-closing races but I'm saying maybe it's time to have a look at it.

"It's not easy. You've got to take on A Plus Tard. Henry de Bromhead set his stall out at the end of last season that he was going to follow the same route. So you've got to go and take on the Gold Cup winner at a track where [last year] he nearly broke the track record without coming off the bridle. Who's going to line up for that slug fest? It might be an early season knockout and I think the fact there are only six entries is accentuated by that.

"You have to take all those things into consideration. This isn't just another story about a low-runner field, but is it good? Of course it's not."

Despite the presence of A Plus Tard, a 22-length winner of last season's Betfair Chase, Skelton was making all the right noises about Protektorat, who has 17½ lengths to find with the favourite based on their running in the Gold Cup.

"I believe there's more to come from this horse at the trip because he's not over-raced at it," said Skelton. "He's a young enough horse to still be improving. We know how far we've got to make up with A Plus Tard but we've got to go and give it a go. We're not afraid to get him back out there.

"I could have said I'm going to leave him two more weeks and go for the Many Clouds, start at 1-2 and put another one of those in our pocket, but there are times you've got to go and have a pop at a Grade 1."

Notwithstanding his faith in Protektorat, Skelton acknowledged Ireland is still the dominant force in jump racing. "Without any doubt at the top end it is still in their favour but I believe I've got better horses than I've ever had," he added.

"They are certainly ahead for the moment but I don't think that it's preordained that they will be forever. But you've got to go and make it happen. Their strength in depth is bloody concerning but you've got to go and do your best and tighten your team up."

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