Ferguson praises Skelton despite agonising defeat

Sir Alex Ferguson urged Dan Skelton to be proud of his achievements this season and says “it is not a crime” to be beaten to the trainers’ championship by Willie Mullins.

Skelton finished second to the Irishman for a second successive year after taking the fight to the final day of the season, with Mullins emulating the achievement of the great Vincent O’Brien who went back-to-back in the 1950s.

The former Manchester United manager has been following the titanic title tussle closely in the final weeks of the season and was at Sandown to cheer on Skelton, who saddled Protektorat for the footballing great and his co-owners to win last year’s Ryanair Chase at the Cheltenham Festival.

Ferguson praised Skelton for taking it down to the wire and is now backing the trainer to dust himself off and go again – believing this year’s title race bears comparison to when some of his great teams of the 1990s and 2000s had to settle for second before bouncing back.

“Willie Mullins has been superb for years and for Dan it is not a crime to be second to Willie Mullins, it is an achievement in itself,” said Ferguson.

“I’ve got horses with Dan and Paul (Nicholls) and it was never going to be easy as Willie Mullins has probably been the best trainer of the last 10 years. But the competition is there from Dan and that is an amazing achievement.

“I had too many of these with Manchester United and I lost two titles on goal difference on the last day and I was second seven times. But we were second five times and then won it the next year – the other two we finished third.”

Skelton’s former boss and long-time mentor, the 14-time champion trainer Paul Nicholls, knows what it feels like to be on both sides of the outcome at Sandown on the final day of the season.

The Ditcheat handler pointed to the sheer weight of the Closutton squad as too much to resist in the closing stages of the season but firmly believes Skelton is a future title winner.

“He will end up being champion trainer one day and he’s done brilliantly,” said Nicholls.

“He’s got the right attitude and the right team behind him. His dad and brother are a massive asset to him and he’s done well this year, it’s a big team the Skelton team.

“He’s done so well this year and set his stall out from the start and is unlucky to just be beat by numbers.

“I know what it is like and as I’ve told him, it was 20 years ago I was beat by Martin Pipe. I needed Azertyuiop to win the big one and I didn’t have the numbers that day.

“We managed to repel Willie once here but it’s hard to do and Dan will be champion trainer one day, whether it is next year, the year after or whenever, he will be one day.

“I’m proud of him and I told him not to take it to heart as he’s had an amazing season.”

Skelton himself was certainly not bitter after being pipped to the post yet again and vowed to come back fighting for his maiden title next season.

He said: “It’s been a phenomenal year for us and I’ve been delighted with how it has gone, barring picking up the trophy.

“Of course lifting that trophy matters and that is what we want to do, but the last three weeks of competition has been phenomenal.

“It’s been a fabulous day today and Sean (Bowen) was brilliant on Resplendent Grey, my friend Olly Murphy has had his best year ever and how did Il Etait Temps win? It was amazing.

“It’s been a great year and a great day and we’ll just try to go again next year. I won’t be giving up and we’re only going to get better and stronger.

“I’ve got a bunch of hungry owners who know now what they want as much as I know what I want. They haven’t enjoyed watching me get beat and that will stand me in good stead for the future.”

A crowd of over 10,000 watched an action-packed afternoon, the biggest since the Covid pandemic.