Dan Skelton Saturday runners blog: 'I think this ground will really suit her'

The next horse racing action from Dan Skelton sees the leading trainer with several runners on Saturday (April 19), which he previews in his exclusive Ladbrokes blog.

We start with Soleil d'Arizona in a Maiden Hurdle up at Haydock and she was good first time, finishing second. Obviously she wasn't so good the next time, and has had a wind op since. The race has cut up a little bit and I think this ground will really suit her, so she's got to be a player.

We then run Got Grey in the Two Mile Series Final, and it's a race I've had in mind for him for a good while. The ground up there will be perfect for him. He did underwhelm last time, but we found a problem and have hopefully corrected that. He'd have to have a chance; he looks nicely handicapped, but obviously his form tells you we can't just say he's going to turn up and win here. With a bit of luck, though, he should go and run well, back on some favoured nice ground.

Then it's Land Genie for us in the Three Mile Final. Again, it's a race I've had in mind for him for a long time, although we could have done with a bit more rain for him, if I'm being honest. The flat track will really suit him though, and we've trained him specifically for this, so hopefully he's got a fair squeak in this.

Le Milos runs in the Veterans' Series Final - we ran him at Aintree as we were looking for somewhere where the ground would be best for him. 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.

We also run Queens Venture up there, and I think the step back up to three miles will be a positive for her on nice ground, so hopefully she's got a squeak as well.

Strolling Along has his first run in a handicap, and this should be much more like it for him, because he hasn't really been able to figure in weight-for-age races. It doesn't look the deepest race here, so hopefully he's got a nice chance on his handicap debut. 

We run a nice horse in the bumper called Johnny Hooves, who has worked well. Like all of our bumper horses, he's done plenty, but it's hard to grade them to be honest. he should go and run well, and make a nice jumper in the future - which is what it's all about for him.

Manala runs in a handicap down at Newton Abbott and the slower ground there will suit her nicely. She's got to step forward now on what she's done, but I'd say she's got conditions in her favour to have a bit of a squeak.

We've got two runners in the big race at Newton Abbott - Heltenham hasn't really figured this year, which has been a bit annoying because he had a great year last year. Softer ground here will really suit him, and hopefully he's got a good run in his locker, because he hasn't really figured like we'd hoped he would so far. Mount Tempest also runs in the same race - he's liking the step-up in trip, and this is the slowest ground we could find for him at the moment. This felt like the most appropriate place to run him in, he's been running consistently well, and hopefully he can pick up some prize money too.

In more exciting horse racing news, Ladbrokes recently announced the signing of flat jockey Sean Levey as one of its ambassadors.

As is going to become a regular occurrence, Levey has shared his first exclusive Ladbrokes blog, providing fans with some more information about him, and talking about his goals for the season.

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