‘Why not dream?’ – L’Eau Du Sud oozes class in Arkle Trial
By Racing TV
Last Updated: Sat 16 Nov 2024
L’Eau Du Sud jumped for fun around Cheltenham to take the Paddy Power Arkle Challenge Trophy Trial Novices’ Chase with ease, leaving Dan Skelton to dream of what the future might hold.
The dashing grey was impressive on his chasing debut at Stratford by 10 lengths and connections wasted little time in going for Grade Two honours in the wake of that.
The 10-11 favourite began to look worthy of his estimation early in the race with a neat round of jumping, as he travelled along fluently in the hands of Harry Skelton.
Up the hill he put the race to bed with little fuss, pinging the last and eventually crossing the line 11 lengths to the good of Western Zephyr and Lookaway, continuing a fine two days for his owners, including Sir Alex Ferguson.
Watch: L’Eau Du Sud cut loose at Cheltenham
Skelton said: “I’ll always defend my horses, but I try not to overhype them because they have enough pressure on them anyway.
“I think with a horse like him and seeing what we’ve seen, you’re very entitled to get excited.
"He’s done it around the track, he’s got the form in the book and while there will be horses going chasing who achieved more over hurdles than he did, they’ve got to go and prove their suitability.
"We’ll go to Sandown now (Henry VIII) where he’ll try tp prove he’s the best two-mile novice chaser in the UK.
“What you’ve got to remember is there’s lots of good horses on both sides of the Irish Sea. Sometimes you don’t get the prep runs into them and you don’t see how good they are until their third runs and sometimes the third run doesn’t go well."
Paddy Power cut the winner to 16-1 from 40s for the Arkle Trophy back at Cheltenham in March.
Harry Skelton told Racing TV: “He was good and travelled really well.
“We always hoped he’d be a much better chaser and hopefully it’s looking to be that way.
“He’ll gain more experience the more he does, but I couldn’t fault him.
“He’s the best we’ve got. Hopefully we’ll chuck our hat in the ring and be back here in March.”
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