Harry Skelton has been flying in the lead-up to Cheltenham.
And the champion jockey believes Gold Cup hope Protektorat can take him to even higher heights in the Friday’s Festival Blue Riband. Skelton and trainer brother Dan go to the Cotswolds aiming to make their mark at the big one. It’s been a magnificent campaign for the yard so far
Team Skelton have constantly hammered out big Saturday winners bringing out the pilot’s now-famous aeroplane celebration already at Cheltenham this term when scoring aboard Midnight River on New Year’s Day. The jockey explained that listening to podcasts from sports stars in rugby, cricket and tennis enforcing the need to enjoy the good times in a pressurised environments brought it out. Skelton said: “I had a listen to a few and, at the high end of sport, the pressures and expectations are there and you have to deliver. That comes with most sports, really. You can always be learning can’t you? And it’s important to learn off as many people as you can. It’s about making the right decisions at the right times. I feel as though that can relate to many other sports. I suppose as you get a bit older, you can take and deal with things a bit better. That comes with experience and you learn how to handle it better. It comes with age, too, I’d say.”
