Lac De Constance looks top drawer

Dan Skelton has never hidden the regard in which he has held Lac De Constance and the grey looked a horse with a big future when producing a dazzling display of jumping on his fencing bow at Kempton on Monday. Unbeaten in three starts over hurdles last term and rated 132, he was a Listed winner over timber but it looks only a matter of time before he becomes a Graded winner over the larger obstacles. Lining up in the same two miles two novice chase at the Sunbury track which Altior won six years earlier, the grey gelding went to the front after the third fence and dominated thereafter. Jumping superby, his two rivals, who were rated 130 and 142, were in trouble someway from home and the race was effectively over before the home turn. A twenty lengths winner, the son of Martaline is likely to return to Kempton for the Grade 2 Wayward Lad Novices' Chase on the 27th December. He is not the first bold front jumping grey to have run at the track over the Festive period during my lifetime. 

The Skelton's have been patient with Lac De Constance and aren't about to undo all their good work by rushing the six year old into races he isn't ready for. Therefore it is possible he will avoid the Cheltenham Festival, which is refreshing to here. Viewed as a three mile chaser in the making, he is another exciting prospect for the Top 40 Prospects in OJA. There are reasons why Dan Skelton is near the top of the tree when it comes to the training ranks. 

There has been plenty written and said in the press over the last couple of days regarding the withdrawals from Ascot on Saturday with household names Constitution Hill, Edwardstone and L'Homme Presse. For what its worth, I think the three trainers in question made the correct call and find it baffling that people are questioning the decision - especially when we are dealing with three of the very best trainers in the UK. The number of horses who have returned from the Berkshire track this Autumn either injured or jarred up - Top 40 entry Leave of Absence being a classic example - speaks for itself. Nicky Henderson, Alan King and Venetia Williams are paid to train racehorses to the best of their ability and the owners are spending a huge amount of money to have those horses in training without adding vets fees on top of that. Yes, we are trying to promote our sport but not at the expense of horses' lives. Messrs Henderson, King and Williams have a job to do and are not interested if Joe Bloggs has travelled 35 miles to Ascot for their first ever day's racing. Genuine National Hunt supporters who attended last Saturday understand a horse's welfare comes first.