Skelton hails staff who have ‘hardest job’ when winter bites

Leading trainer Dan Skelton has paid tribute to the unsung heroes trying to keep National Hunt racing on track during the current cold snap.

There has been lots of frustration regarding abandoned meetings, some at the last minute and others after the action has briefly got under way.

However, Skelton, who leads the jump trainers’ championship by over £500,000, insists everybody is doing their best to get things going again, both at the tracks and behind the scenes in stable yards.

The Ladbrokes ambassador said: “Undoubtedly, the ones who have the hardest jobs are the racecourse staff and the staff at home, keeping the show on the road.

“You know, at a place like ours, which isn’t a public training ground, we’ve got to salt the roads, clear the snow if there’s snow. Water pipes burst…then you’ve got to get on the horses in cold conditions – it’s a lot of work, and it’s hard work.

“It’s the hardest time of the year for the staff, and they deserve all of the plaudits they get.

“I can only imagine it’s the same for the racecourse staff, trying to put on a race meeting, and often a lot of those efforts are in vain – so that’s got to feel even worse.

“Take Warwick, for example – a load of build-up to their best day of the year, and it’s all for nothing; they can’t have it. That must be very demoralising, but we get through it.

“It’s England! We get this weather; there’s no point moaning about it, and we always come out the other side.

“That’s National Hunt racing for you, and that’s why everyone has to work together, and understand each other, asking ‘why aren’t we doing this’ or ‘why aren’t we running that’.

“It’s not as easy as just putting 50p in them and sending them off to the races – they’re not machines.”