Skelton finally getting his crowning moment after recent near-misses

After being denied on the final day of the season for the past two years, Dan Skelton will finally be crowned champion trainer for the first time on Saturday.

In holding off the Willie Mullins juggernaut, despite the Irish behemoth winning the Grand National yet again, Skelton has achieved the first of what is sure to be multiple championships.

While he has a long way to go to match his former boss Paul Nicholls’ 14 titles, there is no doubt his time spent at Ditcheat has made him the brilliant trainer he has become, on the verge of being the first to win over £5million in prize-money in a single season.

“It’s been something I wanted to obviously do for as long as I can remember being involved in the sport,” said Skelton. “I’ve said this week in some other press releases that I grew up around this mentality. When I worked for Paul for nine and a half years, every year, the objective was to be champion trainer.

“Before that, my father (Nick Skelton), he held this one goal above all, which was to win an individual Olympic gold medal. So I’ve kind of been motivated by those two things to achieve this.

“Some people might say, ‘well, is that the right thing or the wrong thing to hold dearest?’ And I suppose holding dearest is probably not quite the correct term, but it’s something that I’ve always wanted to do.

“Obviously, there’s the desire to win Gold Cups, Grand Nationals and all that type of thing. But I just think, actually, now we’ve achieved it, it feels so important to have done it, not on a personal level, but on a team level, because it’s absolutely blown my mind how everybody has got so behind this on our team.

“Obviously, the staff on a day-to-day basis, they’re going out there, getting the horses ready, taking them to the races. But beyond that, the owners who have probably seen us defeated and deflated on the last day of the season the last two years, they’ve really, really made this happen and enjoyed making this happen and been part of making this happen. I know a lot of them have really loved this happening. So, yes, it’s more than I ever thought it would be, to be honest with you.”

Sporting history is full of near-misses. Devon Loch jumping a shadow 50 yards from the winning line, Greg Norman in the Masters and Liverpool losing out on the Premier League title by a point – twice. But Skelton used his heartbreak as fuel.

“It felt like this took a long time,” he said. “It felt like, not that it was taken away from us twice, but the reality is, without the Grand National, we’ve perhaps won this for the last two years.

“So it’s been a bit of time coming, and the fact that it’s proven hard to get, I think, makes it all the more sweet and I think the fact that we’ve all been in the boat together when, on the last day of the season, we haven’t won.

“We’ve been there when it didn’t happen, and now we’re all there together when it has, and I think that just makes it special. Like I say, I cannot get over how much this means to everybody.

“It sort of took my breath a little bit that so many people have enjoyed this and bought into it, and I’ve seen it as their little success as well. It’s brilliant. On Saturday, I’ll get the trophy, but that’s only one person receiving it.

“The spirit of that trophy is hundreds of people. You talk about the mentality. So, is the word obsessed too big a word? No, I’ve not been obsessed with being champion trainer. I’m obsessed with being a trainer and all that that entails. I love what I do, and actually, this year, I’ve loved it more than ever.”

Skelton is not the only one picking up a trophy from Lodge Hill on Saturday, with Tristan Durrell the leading conditional rider of the season.

“Even though we’re a massive team, we’re a very tight-knit team, we love seeing each other succeed,” said Skelton.

“Tristan’s a homegrown talent and that’s very important to us. His work ethic is unbelievable. I can’t think he’s ever been late. I can’t think he’s ever not turned up. I can’t think he’s ever not been courteous, thankful and nothing but a great role model for the younger riders that are now trying to challenge to be the next champion conditional. It means a lot that we can do that because I love to promote from within.”