Hot To Trot: Dan's the man

Jumps: Dan Skelton

As well as possessing plenty of firepower numerically, Dan Skelton clearly has plenty of talented horses in the yard. After a quiet spell in December and January (11% and 8% strike-rates respectively), Skelton’s horses are back in form and the result of that quieter period could mean some well-handicapped horses. That certainly appeared to be the case with recent winners Theatrebar and Spiritofthegames and there are several of his entries over the next few days who could be ahead of their current BHA marks. Stage One ran creditably on his handicap debut at Hereford in January and looks to be on a workable mark of 113 for his chasing debut at Southwell on Monday, while Starlight Court shaped promisingly at Warwick last time and looks an intriguing contender in a novices’ handicap hurdle, also at Southwell.

Flat: Chris Dwyer

Newmarket handler Chris Dwyer doesn’t have a plethora of entries over the next few days, however, given the form that his horses have been in of late, it might be wise to pay close attention to Southwell entry Noguchi. There aren’t too many 12-year-old horses in training on the Flat, however Noguchi appears to be thriving at present. He has been second over a mile and a half at Southwell on two of his last three starts, performances that he has only significantly bettered twice in 38 runs since the start of 2014. Joe Fanning may have ridden the yard’s last two winners, however Silvestre de Sousa - who has a good record for the stable – is an early jockey booking and that looks a positive move. Saved My Bacon is in at the same track on Thursday. He disappointed on his recent return from six months off at Chelmsford and is likely to strip much fitter now returned to Southwell (won there last April).

Under the Radar: Lucy Wadham

Though she has only saddled two winners over the past month (Gregarious at Sandown and Shanroe Santos at Warwick), Lucy Wadham has had a handful of placed runners and the majority of her horses are running to form. Letter Exit has entries at Southwell and Lingfield, and, having shown very little in two starts spread over two years, wouldn’t be an obvious horse to take note of. However, he attracted support in the betting last time before ruining his race after an early error; he’s worth one more chance to show his true ability. Looking further ahead, Potters Legend has entries in both the Close Brothers and Kim Muir handicaps at the Cheltenham Festival and the Kempton and Bangor winner wouldn’t look out of place in either. Given his BHA handicap mark (139) would guarantee him a run in it, the Close Brothers looks the more suitable target.