Kabral Du Mathan looks class act first time over fences
All roads lead to the Arkle at Cheltenham in March.
Kabral Du Mathan put his Arkle credentials on display with a flawless round of jumping on his debut over fences at Perth.
The Dan Skelton-trained six-year-old was immediately sent to the head of the field by Harry Skelton in the Download The Free Racing TV App Now Beginners’ Chase and never needed to get out of first gear, despite being slightly hampered by a loose horse.
Skelton was able to take a casual look around as he entered the home straight and only had to keep the 2-9 favourite up to his work, cantering to a 19-length victory, eased down from halfway up the home straight.
He is now likely to head to Cheltenham for the Paddy Power Arkle Challenge Trophy Trial Novices’ Chase in November as his schedule is mapped out for the Festival in the spring.
William Hill were suitably impressed by his performance in Scotland and shortened him to 6-1 second-favourite for the Arkle in March.
Dan Skelton told Racing TV: “He’s quite light on his feet and it was lovely to watch. Obviously it’s a bit nerve-wracking when you run one over fences first time, but it’s lovely to see that. The loose horse made us nervous for a fence or two, but Harry manoeuvred out of the way and got him on the outside.
“Ultimately he went round by himself and didn’t learn much about having horses around him, but at the same time you’ve got to be able to go his gallop to put him under pressure and I think he’s obviously pretty good. Much stiffer tests will lie ahead of him.
“We’re working backwards from Cheltenham. He wouldn’t want really bad ground and we will keep him to better conditions.
“As long as the ground has got some soft description in it he will go to the Paddy Power meeting over two miles. We’ll look at the Henry VIII (at Sandown in December) or Boxing Day at Kempton (Wayward Lad), two miles. One of those two I’d have thought and after that you might not then see him until the Arkle.
“I’m very conscious I don’t want to run him in bad ground, if I can get some experience before the new year it might feel we’ve done the bit we need to do.”