Dan Skelton is well on course to win the British jumps trainers’ championship this season but knows that the acid test will come at the Cheltenham Festival. He has eleven previous festival winners to his name, seven of them coming in handicaps. He saddled Langer Dan for back-to-back victories in the competitive Coral Cup in 2023 and 2024. Dan Skelton Cheltenham entries for the County Hurdle are also in plenty of notebooks having won this notoriously difficult betting race four times; Superb Story (2016), Mohaayed (2018), Ch’tibello (2019) and Faivoir (2023).
As the Champion Trainer-elect, Dan Skelton’s Cheltenham runners carry a weight of anticipation this season. 2024 was by far his most successful Festival meeting to date with four winners; Protektorat (Ryanair Chase), Grey Dawning (Golden Miller Novices’ Chase), Langer Dan (Coral Cup) and Unexpected Party (Grand Annual Chase). The victory for stable stalwart Protektorat was undoubtedly the highlight, defeating high class Irish duo Envoi Allen and Conflated.
Dan Skelton’s Cheltenham chances this year are headed by Champion Hurdle favourite The New Lion, his sole winner at the 2025 Festival meeting. That success came in the Turners Novices’ Hurdle and he staked his Champion Hurdle claim with victory in the Unibet Hurdle at Cheltenham in January. Skelton has gone on record as stating that this is the strongest ever team he has assembled for the meeting. Grey Dawning (Gold Cup), L’Eau Du Sud (Champion Chase) and Kabral Du Mathan (Stayers’ Hurdle) are Skelton’s leading hopes in the other three Championship races.
Skelton’s Cheltenham Festival runners are expected to total around thirty and we have selected four and assessed their prospects.
Dan Skelton Champion Hurdle hope The New Lion set to start favourite
The Champion Hurdle is the highlight of the opening day of the Cheltenham Festival. Last year’s dramatic renewal saw costly falls for previous winners Constitution Hill and State Man, resulting in a shock victory for Golden Ace. The 2026 Champion Hurdle market has been volatile with neither of the two leading protagonists making the final line-up. Sir Gino was promoted to favourite after an impressive victory in the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton on Boxing Day but sustained a serious injury when pulled up at Newcastle next time.
Dan Skelton Champion Hurdle bid right on track
The New Lion ran on strongly to defeat outsiders Nemean Lion and Brentford Hope in the Unibet Hurdle. The seven-year-old would not have been suited by the pedestrian early pace that day having won over an extended two and a half miles at last year’s Cheltenham Festival. Skelton is confident that The New Lion will be suited by a faster pace in the Champion Hurdle and that his stamina will come into play in the closing stages.
The New Lion has one blemish on his record when crashing out at the second last flight in a dramatic Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle. Constitution Hill fell early in the race and it was left to reigning Champion Golden Ace to record another shock success. The mare beat off Anzadam by a length and a half but was soundly beaten by Sir Gino next time. The New Lion is reported to be in rude health by his trainer and carries plenty of stable confidence.
Irish raiders aim to deny Dan Skelton Champion Hurdle glory
The biggest threat to The New Lion appears to come from Ireland with Brighterdaysahead and Lossiemouth expected to renew rivalry. The two mares have clashed twice already this season at Leopardstown. The grey Lossiemouth came out on top by a length in the December Hurdle but the placings were emphatically reversed in the Irish Champion Hurdle.
Trainer Willie Mullins has been reluctant to commit Lossiemouth to the Champion Hurdle but the open nature of the race will surely force his hand. He also has last year’s Triumph Hurdle winner Poniros and Anzadam among his Champion Hurdle entries, although both look held on Leopardstown form.
Grey Dawning represents best Dan Skelton Gold Cup chance to date
The Gold Cup is the highlight of the festival meeting and Grey Dawning will fly the flag for the Dan Skelton Cheltenham entries. Skelton came closest to success in this race when Protektorat finished an honourable third behind A Plus Tard in 2022. The only British trained winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup in the past ten seasons was Native River in 2018 so Skelton will be under no illusions about the enormity of the task.
Dan Skelton Gold Cup runner can bounce back from Cheltenham defeat
Grey Dawning is an eye-catching, bold jumping grey who battled on tenaciously to win the Turners Novices’ Chase at the 2024 Cheltenham Festival. Last season he finished second to Gaelic Warrior in the Grade 1 Aintree Bowl but it was his reappearance at Haydock in April that raised Dan Skelton’s Gold Cup hopes.
He was always travelling comfortably in the hands of Harry Skelton and eased to a comfortable victory over course specialist Royale Pagaille. He was made favourite for the Cotswold Chase at Cheltenham in January but things did not go to plan. Grey Dawning was kicked by a rival at the start and made a crucial mistake at the second last, eventually finishing third behind Spillane’s Tower. The stable are optimistic that he is much better than he showed that day.
Dan Skelton Gold Cup hope has each-way claims in open renewal
The open nature of this year’s Cheltenham Gold Cup is certainly reflected by the early betting with four horses vying for favouritism. Three of them fought out the finish of the King George VI Chase on Boxing Day with only half a length between them. The Harry Redknapp owned The Jukebox Man came out on top with Gaelic Warrior in third and Jango Baie fourth. None of them are guaranteed to stay the extra two furlongs in the Gold Cup, particularly on soft ground.
Fact To File was a disappointing sixth that day but has since won the Irish Gold Cup and could yet be supplemented for the race. The very latest Cheltenham betting offers, including free bet promotions, will keep racing fans up-to-date as the Cheltenham Festival approaches.
Dan Skelton Stayers Hurdle chances rest with Kabral Du Mathan
The Stayers’ Hurdle is one of the most prestigious races at the Cheltenham Festival. It is the most prized staying hurdle event of the National Hunt season and was famously won four years in a row by Big Buck’s from 2009 to 2012. Irish trained horses have won the last five renewals, although it is a race which can produce the occasional shock result. Lisnagar Oscar sprang a 50-1 surprise for Trainer Rebecca Curtis in 2020 and Sire Du Berlais returned at 33-1 for Gordon Elliott in 2023. Dan Skelton’s Stayers Hurdle contender is the six-year-old Kabral Du Mathan.
Dan Skelton Stayers Hurdle bids to emulate 2015 winner
Cole Harden (2015) was the last Stayers Hurdle winner from that age group. Kabral Du Mathan was formerly trained by Paul Nicholls but official ratings suggest that he has improved by at least a stone this season. He was second in the Scottish Champion Hurdle before having a wind operation in June last year.
Kabral Du Mathan returned to action with a wide margin handicap success at Haydock and then stepped up in grade to win equally impressively at Cheltenham on New Year’s Day. He is yet to race beyond an extended two and a half miles but oozes class and is entitled to take his chance at this level.
Teahupoo favourite to thwart Dan Skelton Stayers Hurdle challenge
The ante-post favourite in the Stayers Hurdle betting is 2024 winner Teahupoo, trained in Ireland by Gordon Elliott. The nine-year-old was denied back-to-back victories in the race by Bob Olinger 12 months’ ago but has won all three subsequent starts.
He was particularly impressive last time at Leopardstown when emphatically reversing the Cheltenham form, this time beating Bob Olinger by 7 lengths. That rival is likely to be in opposition once again as he seems to reach his peak in the spring and is a winner at three previous festival meetings. Even at the age of eleven, you would not be surprised to see him swinging off the bridle as they turn for home.
Maestro Conti is Dan Skelton Triumph Hurdle pick
The Triumph Hurdle is the four-year-old championship race of the Cheltenham festival and is always a competitive event. Willie Mullins has farmed the race in recent seasons with five victories in the past six years. There were three Dan Skelton Triumph Hurdle entries but he has pinned his colours firmly to the mast of Maestro Conti as one of his best chances of the week.
French import fancied to give Dan Skelton Triumph Hurdle success
The French bred son of Prince Gibraltar arrived with a big reputation and started odds-on favourite for his hurdling debut at Kempton’s Christmas meeting. He raced keenly but never looked in danger of defeat, eventually winning by nine and a half lengths.
The next target was the Triumph Hurdle Trial at Cheltenham in January where he had to work harder to beat One Horse Town by two lengths. He will have gained a lot from that experience and could be the best of the British trained Triumph Hurdle entries.
Proactif tops market with Dan Skelton Triumph Hurdle hope at each-way price
The early Cheltenham betting odds have the Willie Mullins trained Proactif as favourite with Maestro Conti available at a good each-way price. Proactif won on his debut at Fairyhouse in January while stable companion Selma De Vary finished runner-up in heavy ground at Leopardstown.
Big ambitions for Dan Skelton’s Cheltenham team
Dan Skelton has set his stall out to claim the British Trainers Championship this season and is well on course to do so. He knows that the only real threat comes from across the Irish Sea with Willie Mullins expected to dominate the Cheltenham Festival once again.
Skelton’s Cheltenham entries look to have quality as well as quantity this year and he will be disappointed if he cannot improve on last season’s single festival victory. The New Lion is his best chance of landing one of the feature races but he will expect to be competitive throughout the week. One of Dan Skelton’s best horses at Cheltenham is Panic Attack, a course winner twice already this season and aimed at the Mrs Paddy Power Mares Chase. Check back regularly for updates as the final Cheltenham declarations are confirmed.
