Sun. Jan 19th, 2025

Protektorat soared over the Windsor fences to record a brilliant a victory in the Fitzdares Fleur De Lys Chase.

Dan Skelton’s 10-year-old was second to L’Homme Presse in this race last year when it was held at Lingfield, after which he had a highly successful spring when winning the Ryanair Chase at the Cheltenham Festival and finishing third in the Melling Chase at Aintree.

He was second in the Peterborough Chase on his last outing and was sent on his way at 100-30 this time, with his Huntingdon conqueror Djelo the well-backed 5-4 favourite.

Protektorat blazed a trail throughout the two-mile six-furlong event – worth over £85,000 to the winner – and put plenty of daylight between himself and his rivals.

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Protektorat wins the Fleur de Lys

At the business end there was no chance of reeling him back in and he sauntered across the line 23 lengths ahead of his old foe Djelo.

“I haven’t ridden many with the constitution and toughness of him. He went a two-mile gallop, it’s unbelievable. He’s so tough and so brave, he’s the maddest horse I’ve ever ridden. He is crazy, he’ll come out tomorrow and want to go five times around the gallop,” said the winning rider.

“That’s what makes him so good, that will to keep up, he’s relentless and we’re so lucky to have a horse like him.

“He gets beaten and then he just comes back, we’ve had some massive days with him.”

He added: “It’s a massive day for the horse, he always puts his hat in the ring and he’s a heavyweight. We’ll go now to the Ryanair, but we’re not naive enough to think this wasn’t a big day for him.

The trainer added: “Everything was just perfect today, we’re delighted with him.

“This and the Ryanair were his two big targets for the year, it’s going to be hard to retain his title because the clock has ticked past 10 years old. He’s not getting any younger, but he’ll make them run, he’ll make them work for it.”

Protektorat is co-owned by John Hales and his daughter Lisa, together with Sir Alex Ferguson and Ged Mason.

An emotional Hales said: “He’s a brilliant horse, that was a wonderful exhibition.

“When they started I thought ‘what the hell is he doing going 20 lengths ahead at the start like that?’, but it was all well thought out.

“That was a brilliant performance. He’s right up there in the top three (of horses he has owned) – One Man, Neptune (Collonges) and then this one.

“When you get a horse like this that’s so genuine, it was a fabulous performance.”

Jubilee Alpha sets up Cheltenham bid

There are bigger things in store for Jubilee Alpha after winning the Fitzdares Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle.

Paul Nicholls’ six-year-old came into the race carrying a penalty after a Listed win last time out and was ridden by Harry Cobden as the 8-13 favourite.

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Jubilee Alpha strikes at Windsor

The soft ground was perhaps not to her liking but she was still able to come to the fore, securing a length-and-a-quarter victory from Emma Lavelle’s Bluey to bring the Ryanair Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival into the picture.

“She wouldn’t be in love with that ground, I thought it was a good performance in the end,” Cobden said.

“She had a hefty penalty for winning that Listed race at Taunton, I loved the way she went through the race and Paul was convinced he can have her a lot better as he only had three weeks to get here today.

“That race at Cheltenham is probably made for her, isn’t it?”

Nicholls told Sky Sports Racing: “She’s straightforward, she jumps and she travels and she stays on.

“There’s no reason to be negative riding her, if they go fast then the faster the better. She should stay on very strongly up the hill (at Cheltenham) which will suit her nicely.

“I know I can get her better for Cheltenham than today because we’ve only had three weeks from Taunton and we’ve got plenty of time to get her really right for the big day.”

Matata made light work of the Fitzdares Great Park Handicap Chase under top-weight of 12st for Nigel Twiston-Davies in the ‘double green’ silks of Simon Munir and Isaac Souede.

The seven-year-old was ridden by J J Slevin, not long retained by the owners, and started as the 2-1 favourite in a field of eight.

The duo took up a prominent position fairly early on and found no one was near enough to challenge as they strolled to a 10-length success.

“He’s very keen, but that was wonderful, he jumped well as he always does,” the trainer said.

“They went very quick and it wore a lot them out, I think there were excuses for a lot of them behind and I’m not just saying that for the handicapper.

“I think the owners may have another horse for the Champion Chase (El Fabiolo) so the idea is that we could go for the two-and-a-half-mile race at Aintree.”

Jingko Blue picks up Hampton honours at Windsor

Jingko Blue took the next step in his promising career with a neat victory in the Hampton Novices’ Chase.

Nicky Henderson’s six-year-old was a wide-margin winner on his debut over fences at Uttoxeter in December and faced only two rivals at Grade Two level this time.

He was the 4-9 favourite under Nico de Boinville, who gave him a patient ride as he stalked leader Lowry’s Bar for much of the three-mile trip.

Jingko Blue’s jumping was a slight mixed bag, but as he was looming up alongside Lowry’s Bar in the closing stages a bad mistake by the latter left his path clear.

He strode on to a two-and-a-quarter-length victory to remain unbeaten over fences, with Lowry’s Bar staying on for a creditable second, with Johnnywho a long way back in third.

Henderson told Sky Sports Racing: “That significant error (by Lowry’s Bar) changed the complexion of the race very quickly, but everything was going well.

“I thought he jumped well, it’s hard work ground. They were really getting into this ground on Friday and I wouldn’t have thought it was the easiest to jump out of.

“He can be a bit more flamboyant than that but at that gallop in this ground, that was probably the best way of going about it.

“They set a sensible pace, but he (De Boinville) did say that going faster on some better ground he will be a more flamboyant jumper.

“I’m pretty sure three miles is his game.”

De Boinville added: “He’s a nice horse and he’s progressing the right way.

“It’s not easy to jump out of that ground, but he’s done it well in the end. The quicker he went, the better he was, we went fairly steady.

“It’s tricky to jump round here, those fences are trappy and it’s hard to get into a rhythm. I had plenty of horse.”

Guard Duty takes charge for Lavelle and Sheehan

Guard Duty worked his way from last to first to land the Winter Million Novices’ Handicap Hurdle at Windsor.

Emma Lavelle’s eight-year-old was an 11-2 chance in the hands of Gavin Sheehan, who was happy to bide his time throughout the two-and-a-half-mile contest.

Gradually the bay began to pick off rivals as the race progressed, and over the penultimate flight he burst through to take up a prominent position. Over the last he took up the lead as other faltered and then stayed on to prevail by four lengths.

“I thought it was a very good performance,” said Lavelle.

“He’s a horse that has always had huge amount of ability, but he’s not been the most straightforward to train.

“He’s always been quite playful – put it that way – at home and his jumping hasn’t been the sharpest because he’s just a bit mutton-headed.

“Gavin gave him a lovely ride today, an absolute peach, he jumped so much better and it was lovely to see him start to fulfil the potential that we’ve always seen at home.”

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