Dan Skelton on the season so far and ones to watch over Christmas and New Year

Ladbrokes ambassador Dan Skelton offers his thoughts on the season so far, the ones to watch over Christmas and New Year and who he thinks could be overlooked at Cheltenham in 2026.

The season so far, and ones to watch over Christmas/New Year

Heading into Christmas, we couldn't ask to be in a better place. It was possibly the best November I'll ever have in my career; we've won so much and the horses have all been fantastic. We had 163 runners, the most winners we've ever had and the most prize money we've ever had in a month... we're on the crest of a wave, and we've just got to keep riding it now. 

Our highest profile runner over the festive period will hopefully be Mydaddypaddy in the Formby Novices' Hurdle up at Aintree on Boxing Day. Obviously this is a Grade 1 novices' hurdle which moved just recently from Sandown. I think the track will really suit him, and he's unbeaten so far, so I'm excited to see how he gets on up there. 

The one I think will be overlooked at Cheltenham...

Obviously, we get past the turn of the year and Cheltenham very much becomes the focus for everyone very quickly, and we're lucky to have a heap of chances already at this moment in time. It's just about moulding those chances into the best shape they can be, and hopefully a few others will be there or thereabouts too. Mydaddypaddy is favourite for the Supreme, The New Lion is up there in the Champion Hurdle betting and I think Grey Dawning is a player in the Gold Cup, which is a great position to find ourselves in. 

The one that people are going to overlook a little is L'Eau du Sud in the Champion Chase, because he didn't run quite so well at Sandown after being very good in the Schloer Chase. But he needs to be very fresh; he won't run until the Champion Chase, and I think he'll be overlooked in what looks like a very open race. 

What's next for Panic Attack...

Panic Attack has had an unbelievable season already, winning two big handicaps within 14 days, something I don't think has been done in over 20 years, so it's been a remarkable start for her and she doesn't owe us anything now. We'll try and go down the Grand National path with her though; she's going to run at Newbury in January and possibly go to Cheltenham Festival for the mares' race - if she doesn't, she'll go to Kelso for a listed race that we won with Grey Dawning last year. And then, like I say, we're heading for the Grand National... she looks like she's got a lot of ticks in those boxes now, but it's going to be hard to win the Grand National, especially with a mare - that hasn't been done since Nickel Coin in 1951. We'll give it our best shot though.

Why The New Lion fell at Newcastle...

It's never ideal to end up on the floor in any race, but that's how we found ourselves in the Fighting Fifth with The New Lion. But what that day did show me is that he can handle the pace of a two-mile race, no problem at all. We've already jumped him since at home and that's gone well - he came out of the race well too, which is fortunate because you don't want to see them going backwards physically or mentally. It feels like he's come out of it all fine... we're going to head to Cheltenham for trials day, and then onto the Champion Hurdle. 

But the most important thing we took from that last time out was that he's more than capable of handling that kind of pace. He was going as fast as he's ever gone in his life, and that's possibly why he fell, but we'll get him more used to that, with a bit more match practice, that won't do him any harm, and hopefully he's a big player come the Champion Hurdle.

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