'It doesn't get bigger than this' - soaring Skeltons strike in Ryanair Chase with Protektorat

The soaring Dan Skelton stable hit even greater heights at the Cheltenham Festival when a courageous performance from Protektorat gave the stable a championship race victory in the Ryanair Chase.

The nine-year-old has been a pivotal part of a transformative era for the Warwickshire yard and fittingly provided the trainer with his greatest moment when completing a Grade 1 double, just hours after Grey Dawning’s victory in the Turners’ Novices’ Chase.

Skelton had yet to train a Grade 1 winner when Proktetorat only completed three hurdles on his debut for the yard in December 2018 but, like his trainer, he has blossomed since.

Harry Skelton, the trainer’s brother and a fundamental factor in the yard’s acceleration, nestled his Ryanair Chase hope prominently behind Stage Star, who took up his trademark front-running spot. This was Protektorat’s seventh start in a chase at Cheltenham and the Gold Cup third and fifth of previous years showcased his aptitude for the track's climbs and fences as he moved slickly throughout the test.

Harry Cobden urged the pace along on Stage Star at the top of the hill as the opposition started to toil. Banbridge, the day’s drifter, and Conflated started to fade but a motionless Rachael Blackmore was emerging on Envoi Allen.

From two out Stage Star’s brave effort began to weaken as the defending champion took aim. With the pair urged along, they burst over the final fence in sync as the crowd roared into life. This time though, it was the British raider who was strongest at the finish as he pressed on to strike by four lengths.

The winning trainer celebrated a second consecutive double at the meeting after Langer Dan and Unexpected Party struck on Wednesday, while owners Sir Alex Ferguson, Ged Mason and Lisa and John Hales had also toasted victory with the Pertemps Final winner Monmiral.

Harry Skelton with John Hales and Protektorat after the RyanairCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

Trainer Skelton said: “It’s a magical thing. It doesn’t get bigger than this, it’s amazing to be honest. Just incredible. It’s what we all planned to do but actually coming off was one zillion to one. It's so competitive here but I’m so proud of the horses.

“Protektorat has been trying the Gold Cup trip to make it happen for the owners as it’s the race they’d most like to win. We dropped him in the first year and he finished third, then we rode him more aggressively and he finished fifth. We weren’t hitting the Gold Cup standard so we came to this and it was the right thing to do. 

“Harry gave him a supreme ride. When Envoi Allen came upsides us there I thought he’s danced this dance a lot of times, maybe we’re booked for second, but going to the last he found a bit more. The stamina that we’ve been filling him with over those years meant he could see that trip out really well.”

The Ryanair is Skelton's most lucrative win and had extra significance too, as it put him narrowly above Paul Nicholls at the top of the jump trainers' championship.

“We’ll think about that another day,” added the trainer of the lead. “I don’t really know what to say. This is just phenomenal. That [the Ryanair Chase] is one of the biggies – we had the Grade 1 novice winner Grey Dawning and all that to look forward to, the handicappers have to be right on the day but this is one of the [holy] grails. 

“It doesn’t get any higher than this, two Grade 1s at Cheltenham. I'd better enjoy this as it doesn’t happen very often. The work that the staff put in is phenomenal, and not just in our yard but the whole industry and we can’t celebrate them enough. We’ve got great horses, sometimes it just comes together. What’s going on is what we try to achieve but it very rarely happens.”

The Henry de Bromhead-trained Envoi Allen bravely plugged on to hold off third-place Conflated, representing Gigginstown House Stud whose boss Michael O’Leary owns race sponsors Ryanair. The runner-up’s trainer suggested the ground may have been slightly too testing for last season’s winner.

De Bromhead added: “I’m absolutely delighted with him, he ran a cracker. He travelled well into it but Rachael [Blackmore] said he didn’t travel into it as well as he normally can. He felt the ground a little more but he’s run a cracker so I’m delighted with him.”

Stage Star faded into fifth, finishing behind Capodanno, who warmed up for his Grand National tilt with a strong-staying fourth-place effort. Ahoy Senor weakened into sixth while Banbridge was last of the nine finishers.

Read these next:

Sir Alex Ferguson enjoys first Cheltenham Festival winner with 25-1 shot Monmiral in Pertemps Final 

'He's just magic' - relentless Grey Dawning gives Britain a Grade 1 win as fine week for Dan and Harry Skelton continues 

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