2.25 Cheltenham: 'It's his biggest test' - Skelton and Mullins on their Cotswold Chase stars

The Cheltenham Gold Cup may be two months away but the race will be in the back of everyone's minds during the Paddy Power Cotswold Chase. 

Five of the six runners hold entries for the festival's feature race, including Saturday's market leader Protektorat. He established his Gold Cup credentials last season when third behind the Henry de Bromhead pair of A Plus Tard and Minella Indo and the Dan Skelton-trained runner makes his first start at Cheltenham since in this Grade 2 contest. 

He has run just once this season but showed he was going from strength to strength with a career-best Racing Post Rating of 177 in the Betfair Chase, winning by 11 lengths from Eldorado Allen and Frodon, and Skelton is hoping his stable star can pull off another impressive success on the path to the festival. 

"I'm very happy with him and we were always coming here on the way to the Gold Cup," the trainer said. "We've got to take this seriously in its own right as it's a valuable and prestigious prize. I'll let the other trainers talk about theirs but we're happy to be in it and looking forward to running."

This season's contest has added interest thanks to the participation of Noble Yeats, who is set to face his "biggest test so far" for trainer Emmet Mullins. 

The Grand National winner will be the first Irish runner in the Cotswold in seven years, with the Willie Mullins-trained Djakadam the last to contest the race in 2016. He went on to finish second that season in the Gold Cup and Noble Yeats could follow a similar path, having already claimed victory in the Many Clouds Chase last month. 

Noble Yeats faces his toughest assignment yet on SaturdayCredit: Patrick McCann

"He's in good form at home, so we're hopeful of a nice run," Mullins said. "It's going to be a very competitive race and I'm hoping he'll give a good showing. It's his biggest test for sure and it'll be a bit of an eye-opener for us and for him."

Noble Yeats failed to land a blow on his sole start at Cheltenham when ninth in the Ultima Handicap Chase last year, but his trainer expects the eight-year-old to be better suited to the New course, which is also used for the Gold Cup. 

Mullins said: "It's another step up the ladder and Saturday won't be the be-all and end-all for the season, so hopefully we have something to improve on after that. He ran well in the Ultima last year on the Old course but the Gold Cup track should suit him better given it's a more galloping, stamina-driven track."

'You never know – Frodon keeps surprising'

Frodon has his first run in the Costwold Chase since landing the race in 2019 and trainer Paul Nicholls is hoping for another strong performance from the reliable and popular chaser. 

At 11, Frodon is three years older than the rest of the field but still retains his zest for racing after finishing third in the King George on his latest start and scoring in the Badger Beer Handicap Chase under top weight in November. 

"It's a tough-looking race and I think Protektorat will be hard to beat," Nicholls said. "However, it's the right race for him and he likes the track and ground. I'd like to think he might end up getting placed, but you never know with him – he keeps surprising. He's in seriously good order, which is very important."

Frodon: winner of the race in 2019Credit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.cpm/photos)

Since his victory four years ago Frodon has gone on to score three Grade 1 wins under Bryony Frost, who has ridden the chaser in all bar one of his races since December 2017. He could head next to the Gold Cup, where he finished fifth in 2021, with the lightly raced Dusart the only runner in the field without a festival entry. 

"You can look at all the races he's won since that day in 2019 and he's been an amazing horse for us," Nicholls added. "It's good to have him out in races like this, but you have to face the fact he's getting older and those other horses have younger legs than him."

What they say

Lucinda Russell, trainer of Ahoy Senor
He seems to be showing all the signs that he's coming back to himself, so that's a really good step. He jumped much better last time at Kempton but the only thing I'm worried about is the ground, because I don't like frosted ground. We're going to head down on Friday and will have a look ourselves when we get there.

Nicky Henderson, trainer of Dusart
I think he's coming back to form. It took him a bit of time to come to hand at the beginning of the season and we gave him a run over hurdles. He's been schooling really nicely and jumping very well. He's got to go and play with the big boys now, so it'll be a tough race for him, but we've got to start somewhere.

Ruth Jefferson, trainer of Sounds Russian
He's in fine form and Sean Quinlan, who rides him for the first time, gave him a good school yesterday and we were really happy with him. He's a weird horse in that he never seems to come back from a race tired; he really enjoys his racing. I can't see why there'd be a problem with Cheltenham and this will be a good indicator for the festival.

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