Hot To Trot: Skelton's hot summer can continue

Flat Trainer: Richard Fahey

Richard Fahey has been operating at around his average run to form percentage for most of the year, but at a time where his horses normally dip below that level, he is now back on the up. His level of form is remarkable given the quantity of runners that he sends out and after having half of his last 20 runners either win or hit the frame at the time of writing, he looks set to continue that over the coming week.

As expected with a string of his size, he has plenty of entries over the coming week, with two catching the eye. Firstly, Kensington Art is expected to be turned out again before the handicapper can get hold of him after a 16-length rout of the opposition at Catterick on Wednesday, as shown below. He was seen favourably as the way the race unfolded suited him perfectly, given he could take advantage of the front-runner fading early and kick on from three furlongs out up the straight. The form of that success is probably not the strongest and his best chance of following up would be to reappear under a penalty, with options at Chelmsford and Lingfield available to him. Richard Fahey also has The New Marwan entered next week in the valuable two-year-old series final at Hamilton and he looks to have a good chance of taking the prize. He will have to drop down to six furlongs off the back of two good performances at Chester, but did record a career best over C&D when breaking his maiden tag back in June, so that doesn't look to be a problem. The form of his latest second at Chester has taken a big boost when the third improved plenty when winning next time out, so a mark of 81 looks on the lenient side here and he can continue his handler's strong run of form.

An impressive victory for Kensington Art and Paul Hanagan in the Yorkshire Dales Distillery (@homeoftheram) Handicap, winning for @RichardFahey 👌 pic.twitter.com/wG8ZwMdS7W

— Catterick Racecourse (@CatterickRaces) August 28, 2019

Jumps Trainer: Dan Skelton

As has been the case over the last few years, Dan Skelton starts the jumps season particularly strongly, with his horses seeming to thrive on the quick ground that summer brings. Currently operating at a run to form ratio of just under 70%, the graph below shows that he is having his best spell of things currently from the last five years.

Skelton will be looking to provide his brother Harry with as many winners as possible in his quest for a maiden jockey championship and can start with Mister Universum on Sunday at Worcester. He's been seen twice since having wind surgery and has finished second on both occasions. Returning in good form, he's posted a rating just under his career best on both those starts and now dropping slightly in trip (he was caught on the line last time and was reported to have lost a shoe), he can get his head back in front now back on his last winning mark. Aweeminit also looks a mare to follow going forward after a handicap debut success at Bangor. She achieved little in bumpers for her old yard before moving to Dan Skelton and showed a little more promise in minor company over hurdles. The step up to two and a half miles, the switch to handicaps and a tongue-tie applied for the first time saw her in a much better light, winning impressively by six lengths. She has been raised 11 lb for that success but given the way she quickened clear, it would be shock to see her not be able to cope with that and a successful follow up bid looks likely.

Under The Radar: William Muir

William Muir is having a good time of things at the minute with his string running well above his average at this time of the season. He's a bit short of his usual level of winners but has had plenty of places and is an excellent three from four with first time out two-year-olds this season.

Final Option was one of those winners when making her debut at Ripon at the beginning of August. She's from a good sprinting family - her dam is a half-sister to top class sprint winners Deacon Blues and The Tin Man - and the way she won on debut, despite it not looking the strongest of contests, suggested she could be capable of holding her own when stepping up in grade. She holds an entry in the Group 3 Dick Poole stakes at Salisbury on Thursday and despite not posting a figure that some of the others have in their careers, she wouldn't be without a chance of gaining some black-type with plenty of improvement possible. Before that, Muir has Cent Flying declared to run on Sunday off the back of two wins from his last three starts. He was well on top at the finish at Newmarket, which was the most recent of those, so a 4 lb rise shouldn't prove to be insurmountable for this gelding, and given the improvement he has shown since returning from wind surgery he can go in again.