Trainer Dan Skelton hailed 'personal bests' as Protektorat (15-2) scored a superb 11-length victory in the Betfair Chase in fine style at Haydock Park.
While Henry De Bromhead’s Cheltenham Gold Cup hero and last year's Betfair Chase winner A Plus Tard failed to fire and was pulled up, Skelton's progressive eight-year-old chaser – under the trainer's brother Harry Skelton – grabbed the biggest victory for all three when scoring an impressive success in the Grade One feature on Merseyside.
Protektorat landed a first victory at the top level since his Manifesto Novices' Chase success at the Randox Grand National Festival at Aintree Racecourse in April 2021. And he turned around the form from the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup at the Cheltenham Festival in March, when he was just over 17 lengths behind A Plus Tard in third. But A Plus Tard's disappointment – where he was pulled up before the third last fence by Rachael Blackmore – shouldn't take away from a stunning display of jumping and potent finishing kick from the ever-improving Protektorat.
The pair will no doubt meet again back at Prestbury Park in March, where Protektorat is now around a 7-1 for Gold Cup glory, with A Plus Tard out to 12-1 with bet365 to retain his crown.
Nigel Twiston-Davies' three-time Betfair Chase hero, the veteran Bristol De Mai, led the field along for much of the way but as the five runners made the turn for home Harry Skelton moved Protektorat through stylishly to challenge. Skelton and Proktektorat went to lead and had his rivals struggling. He came out a wide-margin winner from the staying-on Eldorado Allen (17-2).
Protektorat was also cut to 5-1 from 12-1 for the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day. But with his owners – John Hales, Sir Alex Ferguson and Ged Mason – already having Hitman, who also impressed with an earlier victory at Haydock trainer Skelton is likely to bypass that and wait for a Gold Cup warm-up in the Cotswold Chase at Cheltenham at the end of January.
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Skelton said: "It’s one of the grails of three-mile steeplechasing and it’s a magical race to be a part of. One of the first people to congratulate me when I got back in was Paul Nicholls and obviously when I worked with him for all those years, you felt like you tripped over these in the dark when Kauto Star was around – but it’s a lot harder than that.
"This has been the culmination of what I set out to do when I started training and it’s a big thing. When you win these races sometimes you’ve got to move on to the next day but this one I’m going to really savour. We’re all guilty of not living in the moment sometimes, but this one I’m really going to live.
“John (Hales) and his family have been involved in horses with us forever. The very first horse John bought was a showjumper for my dad called Arko and my dad gave me the video of the horse in Spain. He said to make sure I posted that otherwise I wouldn’t have a horse to go to the Olympics with!
"He was unfortunate not to win in Athens with Arko but that was the first horse he’s had and he’s gone on from there. It goes without saying what the Hales family and Ged Mason have done for racing in general let alone our family and every time you have an association with Sir Alex Ferguson it’s special. It is personal bests for me, for Harry and Protektorat.
“It’s just magic and Harry said he’s got a feel on him that he’s never had before. In my mind there’s no question that he has improved."
On future plans he added: "I said in my Racing Post stable tour I may go to the Fleur De Lys Chase at Lingfield during the Winter Million weekend (January 22), or the Cotswolds Chase (at Cheltenham on January 28), but he won't be going to the King George, no way.
"Today is a big stepping stone, but the favourite underperformed. We're going to have to cross swords with them again when they're on a better day. It's always a strong division this and we're proud to have one right up there."
Winning jockey Harry Skelton added: "That was unbelievable, I'm not that old, but I've never had that feeling.
"He's just progressing and getting better. The way he jumped down the back, that's what really good horses can do. It was a magnificent training performance first time up. Make no mistake, we were ready today, we're not going to make any hiding of that, we knew today might be our day and it was.
"This horse wasn't easy when we got him from France, we ran him in a hood and he unseated me in at Cheltenham in a juvenile hurdle, he was a bit mad. But everyone has stuck by him and just let us produce him and that's the dream."
Co-owner Ferguson, who was having a double on the day following Hitman's earlier success, said: “That performance from Protektorat was fantastic and he’s improved from last year. He’s a young horse who finished third in the Gold Cup and today he showed it’s no fluke. You were wondering if he was going too well really and how much he had left but he just accelerated in the straight. It was a great performance. He was a seven year old last year and he’s an eight-year-old, so he is better. Today was confirmation of our hopes.
"Hitman is a lovely horse too. We are very lucky – John, me and Ged we have got some lovely National Hunt horses. I love it here it is fantastic."
Connections of A Plus Tard had no explanations for his lacklustre effort.
Jockey Blackmore said: "I was never that happy, to be honest. When I did decide we were going to pull up, he stopped very quickly under me – he was very easy to pull up He seems fine trotting back, but I was never that happy throughout the race."
On whether the softer ground was an issue, Blackmore added: "Possibly, but he's a very classy horse and I was hoping that wouldn't have been an issue that would make him pull up."
County Waterford-based handler De Bromhead was similarly unsure what the reason for A Plus Tard's display and will check him when they return home to Ireland. He said: "It was obviously too bad to be true. That's the best thing to say I think for the moment.
"We'll get him home and see. He was in mighty form coming over, but he looked laboured didn't he? Maybe the ground (was a factor), but I don't want to make excuses. It was too bad to be true and that's it.
"He seems fine, but we'll scope him and check him. We can't say anything (about future plans), we need to go through everything. It was very unlike him."
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