Skelton sees Grey Dawning as ticking plenty of King George boxes

Dan Skelton is confident Grey Dawning will be able to cope with quicker ground and a faster pace in the Ladbrokes King George VI Chase at Kempton Park on Boxing Day.

The seven-year-old was a top novice last term, claiming the Turners at Cheltenham among three victories in his first campaign over fences.

He returned to action at elite level in open company and put in a most encouraging performance to finish second behind Royale Pagaille in Haydock’s Betfair Chase, when just outstayed late on in testing conditions.

With Kempton currently described as good to soft, good in places, the weather forecast being favourable for early next week and a decent-sized field expected following 14 confirmations, the King George promises to be a much faster-run affair from the outset.

Regarding ground conditions, Skelton said: “I think we’d all probably like it to be simple good to soft ground over the whole lot. That’s probably not going to be the case, but given how much rain there’s been over the winter and how wet it has been, even though it’s been dry for a while now, I still think there’s plenty of moisture underneath.

“I think it will be a very safe surface. If anything, it could just be a little sticky, as drying ground can just get a little sticky, so it could be a little harder work than good to soft, good suggests, but I don’t have any concerns about it.

“After running on really, really slow conditions last time, I think he’s probably going to look forward to being on better ground, to be honest.”

As for a strong early pace, Skelton added: “I think from a jumping perspective, he’ll be better off. Because obviously the other day, on that really slow ground, every time he landed, Harry (Skelton) had to take him back.

“We couldn’t afford to use up too much energy over the jumps and then obviously be too forward through the race between the jumps. So actually I think on better ground, going a faster gallop, I think his jumping will be better.

“Yes, it’s going to be a totally different race to Haydock but he’s raced predominantly over two and a half miles in novice company, and they went a fair old lick round Cheltenham at the Festival, so I don’t have that fear.

“The speed they go in the race is relevant to their jumping and he jumps like a comfortable horse at that speed, so I think that’s a positive. With a few more runners, maybe we can just tuck him in there a little bit more and that will help him along the race as well.

“I do feel that the way he went through the race at Haydock, this type of test, a flat track and a bit better ground, should really, really suit him.”