StableTalk: Dan Skelton talks through his Ascot and Haydock runners this Saturday

3:35 Meet The Legend and Willow’s Survivor
In the old Ladbroke Hurdle at 3.35, I run two horses, Meet The Legend and Willow’s Saviour, who won the race for us three years ago.

Willow’s Saviour is a good horse and probably would have been third at the Festival over fences last March but for falling and that would have been no disgrace. We are trying him back over hurdles as he just had a little injury after that fall, so we are going to look after him. He will be competitive; it’s a hard job to say he’s going to win, but I think he’ll be competitive alright.

I’m very happy with Meet The Legend. We missed Cheltenham last month, which was his intended plan, but he wasn’t quite right for that so we looked after him. We are very happy with him now and I think he has a great chance, but it’s a very strong race. I really like this race for a couple of reasons. Obviously it was our first big-race win when Willow’s Saviour won it three years ago, so that will always be a great memory. It’s also a very valuable race in its own right so I like it a lot for that reason too!

Harry was always going to pick Meet The Legend as he’s the younger horse with lots of scope for improvement, so it was a pretty obvious decision. But Bridget will get on well with Willow’s Saviour and she takes 3 lbs off his back, and I’m really happy with him too.

Haydock

11:50 Pokora Du Lys
Up at Haydock I run Pokora Du Lys in the 11.50. The track will suit him, the ground’s ideal and the trip is fine. He was running well at Southwell last time when he made a mistake two out and that ruined his chance. I don’t think he’s without a chance in this.

1:30 Master Jake
In the 1.30 I run Master Jake. This is really competitive, like all of the races up at Haydock, but Master Jake wouldn’t be without a chance in this. He ran well at Sedgefield in a novice handicap chase and although he was never going to beat the winner that day, I think there has been improvement since then. I think he can be competitive.

14:40 Corrin Wood

Corrin Wood runs in the Tommy Whittle at 2.40. There are sixteen runners so this is seriously competitive, but he’s back over fences which will suit him. Hopefully he can have a nice clear round with no excuses, as we are just pitching him back in to handicap chasing at that level and seeing how he gets on. We aren’t going there with bundles of expectations. He’s run well a couple of times over hurdles for us but what we need to see now is a good run over fences, it’s as simple as that.

Dan

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