Trainer Dan Skelton hailed 'personal bests' as Protektorat (15-2) scored a superb 11-length victory in the Betfair Chase in fine style at Haydock Park.
While Henry De Bromhead’s Cheltenham Gold Cup hero and last year's Betfair Chase winner A Plus Tard failed to fire and was pulled up, Skelton's progressive eight-year-old chaser – under the trainer's brother Harry Skelton – grabbed the biggest victory for all three when scoring an impressive success in the Grade One feature on Merseyside.
Protektorat landed a first victory at the top level since his Manifesto Novices' Chase success at the Randox Grand National Festival at Aintree Racecourse in April 2021. And he turned around the form from the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup at the Cheltenham Festival in March, when he was just over 17 lengths behind A Plus Tard in third. But A Plus Tard's disappointment – where he was pulled up before the third last fence by Rachael Blackmore – shouldn't take away from a stunning display of jumping and potent finishing kick from the ever-improving Protektorat.
