Dan Skelton is hoping for a 'solid run' from Grade 1-winning chaser Il Est Francais ahead of his first outing for the stable on Wednesday.
Flashback to 2023 and the Karaktar gelding was one of the most exciting horses in training following his wildly impressive success in the Kauto Star Novices' Chase on Boxing Day at Kempton.
However, his career hasn't exactly panned out the way some may of expected since then. Last season he was moved from his original training base with Noel George & Amanda Zetterholm to be with George's father, Tom, but he failed to complete on any of his three starts.
His campaign began with disappointment when sent off 11/4 in the 1965 Chase at Ascot and failing to race beyond two out. That was followed up with two more pulled up efforts at Kempton and Aintree, prompting owner Kelvin Hughes to relocate him to his new base with Skelton.
Despite facing seven rivals who would be far inferior to him on peak form, Skelton has asked for fans to lower their expectations ahead of Wednesday's run.
“I spoke to Richard Kelvin-Hughes (owner) and said I’ve got no negatives at all, but I think he will improve for the run,” the champion trainer told Sky Sports Racing.
“We need to get a number next to his name not a letter, that is important. I think he’ll do better than that from what I’ve seen, but I do have to tell everybody you’re going to have to bear with this horse a little bit because he’s had so much expectation in his life and he’s going to the track with probably less expectation than he’s ever had before, certainly from our perspective.
“I said to Richard, this horse doesn’t look like he’s gone at it. I had a discussion with Richard at the start of the summer and if we thought at any point that this was going to not happen we would stop, because there’s nothing to gain from running a horse that can’t do it, but there’s been no negatives at home either physical or mental."
Still only eight, there is still hope that Il Est Francais can re-discover some of the spark that saw him narrowly defeated by Banbridge in the 2024 King George VI Chase. He earned a RPR of 171 for his brave front-running performance that day, yet was still fairly inconsistent even when putting in his best efforts.
Prior to that, he was pulled up Prix la Haye Jousselin and then defeated by 26-lengths on his next start following the King George.
Wednesday will see him carry top weight in the Faucets Handicap Chase, where he will take on two other Skelton inmates in Riskintheground and Matterhorn.
Saint Segal is second in, officially rated 154, and Harry Cobden will continue his burgeoning partnership with JP McManus when he gets the leg up on 2024 Cheltenham Festival runner-up Crebilly.
Any odds displayed were correct at the time of writing and are subject to fluctuation.
