Skelton has high expectations for L’Eau Du Sud

Harry Skelton feels the sky is the limit for L’Eau Du Sud, who maintained his unbeaten record over fences at Cheltenham on Saturday in impressive fashion.

Runner-up in both the Betfair Hurdle and County Hurdle last season, he won by 10 lengths on his chasing bow and landed the Grade Two Arkle Trial by 11 lengths.

Sandown’s Betfair Henry VIII Novices’ Chase on December 7 will be his next port of call.

“He travelled and jumped brilliantly and put the race to bed in an instant, so he could do no more than win how he did,” said Skelton.

“Obviously, the competition is going to get better further down the line and we’ll have to take on the Irish horses, but that’s out of our hands.

“We always felt fences were going to be the making of him; he didn’t have such an advantage over hurdles as a lot of his rivals could get away with not being as exuberant as he is over fences.

“He’s the best two-mile novice chaser we’ve got and we’re excited about his future.

“He’ll go to Sandown now for the Grade One King Henry VIII and then we’ll work back from the Arkle from there.”

It was a profitable three days for Skelton and his brother, Dan, but one reversal was Ryanair winner Protektorat under a big weight in the Paddy Power Gold Cup.

“He was very fresh for his first run of the season and ran with the choke out a bit. He jumped great, and just took a big blow coming to three out before getting tired from the back of the last,” Skelton said in his Star Sports blog.

“Where we go next isn’t certain. He tends to jump and lean slightly left-handed, so that is a factor. We may just have to look slightly outside the box this side of Christmas due to the races that are available to him. The Peterborough Chase could be an option, but ultimately all roads lead back to the Ryanair.”

One winner set for a quick return is Doyen Quest, who is all set to turn out again this weekend in Haydock’s Betfair Stayers’ Handicap Hurdle, for which he will carry only a 5lb penalty with the handicapper having raised his rating 10lb for the victory.

“How far he can go, I don’t know, but he’s an improving horse. On his way back to the winners’ enclosure he was jig-jogging, so he obviously hadn’t had too hard a race,” said Skelton.

“That’s what he’s like and I think there’s plenty to come from him. We’ll see how he is throughout this week and all being well, he’ll line up for the valuable three-mile handicap hurdle at Haydock on Saturday.”

Skelton also had news on Valgrand who he believes could be a County Hurdle type following his defeat over two and a half miles.