Le Milos carrying Skelton hopes into battle at Haydock

Victory for Le Milos in the £100,000 Unibet Middle Distance Veterans’ Handicap Chase at Haydock would be very welcome for Dan Skelton, as he valiantly attempts to fend off the might of Willie Mullins.

For the second year in a row Skelton has seen a sizeable advantage in the trainers’ title race rapidly diminish, after Mullins dominated at Cheltenham, took the lion’s share of the £1million on offer in the Grand National and then had the one-two in last weekend’s Scottish National.

Races with this amount of prize-money – with £51,440 for first place – away from the big meetings are rare, and with Mullins not having a runner, it is a good chance for Skelton to pull away before the Closutton machine rolls into Plumpton and Perth over the next few days.

Three runs ago Le Milos won in veterans’ company and having been out at Newbury and Aintree since, should find life a little easier against horses more his age.

“We ran him at Aintree as we were looking for somewhere where the ground would be best for him,” said Ladbrokes ambassador Skelton.

“The ground up here will be no problem; he’s won on good ground before, and he’s in good form.

“He’s running well, and obviously won at Warwick against the veterans, and this is the first time he’s been back against the veterans since that day. Hopefully he’s one of the players in this league and he can go well here.”

Skelton is currently 3-1 with Ladbrokes to claim a first title after keeping Mullins (2-9) at arm’s length through the week.

Last year’s winner Numitor is back for more for Heather Main.

The grey has enjoyed a fine season this term too, winning three of his five outings – including last time out at Ascot – but that means he is almost a stone higher in the weights.

“Numitor is really well. This has been our aim the whole season and he is ready to go,” said Main.

“Ascot last time wasn’t the plan but it ended up being his prep race for the final on Saturday.

“We didn’t know if he would stay and while he had run on quicker ground, with a big horse like him you are never quite sure. But in the end he loved the ground and he loved three miles. Hopefully that run wasn’t too close but he needed a prep run because there had been a bit of a gap since he last ran.

“Although he has run mostly in smaller fields, I don’t think field size is important to him as long as he gets into a rhythm. He loves racing and he loves jumping – he just pings them and that is what he is all about.”

Regarding the extra weight Main said: “It doesn’t worry me too much although I don’t want to be overly confident. He is such a big horse and we feel the bigger they are, the more they are able to carry the weight. I hope that proves the case on Saturday.”

Joe Tizzard runs both Eldorado Allen and The Widow Maker, Henry Hogarth’s Flic Ou Voyou arrives on the back of a win while Dubai Days (Nick Alexander) has been aimed at this all season.