Dan Skelton: Bossman Jack Q&A
How did you assess last season?
"He had a good season. He had a little surgery last summer as he had a ligament that was rubbing on the top of his cannon bone, which meant he didn’t debut well in November. Without making the mistake at the last he would have gone very close at the Cheltenham Festival, and then he was obviously very authoritative at Aintree. He cruised through the race and stayed on nicely without ever really looking like he was emptying. It was a good performance.”
How has he done over the summer?
"He has done really well. He is not a big, heavy, thick set horse. He has a nice frame on him. He is an athletic model. He has done well over the summer without coming in super fat and being hard work to get going. He is a very pliable horse that is easy to work with. I think the penny is just dropping with him mentally, day by day, and run by run. That is what is exciting about him as it does mean there is still a bit more and you are not just seeing what you have got. I do think there is more to come."
What sort of plan have you got for him this season?
"I don’t necessarily think he is an Aintree horse as I think Cheltenham is fine for him, but it is just about putting his feet under him in the early part of the season because he is going novice chasing. We will just be making sure we get it right with him. I don’t just expect him to go and turn up in the Kauto Star second time out, or something like that, as I don’t feel that is the right way to go with him, but he is a Grade 1 winner and he is really exciting.”
What do you think his optimum conditions are?
"I wouldn’t be afraid to go around a Wetherby or an Exeter over two miles with him first time out. I’m not afraid to start over two miles then work our way back up. I envisage that it is probably more likely, at championship level, that he will run at three miles than any other distance. However, I don’t just see him being an all out three miler. I don’t see him being a plodder at all as two and a half miles will be no issue at all. Good to soft ground, or soft ground is no issue to him.”
