We knew that a decision was going to have to be made on this, and this week we got one, with Harry Skelton pledging his loyalties to his brother Dan for the Champion Chase this year and Harry Cobden regaining a ride aboard the 2020 winner of the race in Politologue.
Skelton is stable jockey at his brother's yard and the decision is hardly surprising, and the way that Nube Negra bolted up at Christmas in the Desert Orchid he still maintains a great chance in the race.
The reason why this decision was so important is because this now means that Harry Cobden will ride Politologue in the Clarence House tomorrow as he will now be the jockey for when the grey rocks up at Cheltenham in March.
It's definitely been a tough decision for Skelton due to the fact him and Dan are good friends with the owners of Politologue the Hales family but I think that also explains why this situation has been handled professionally by all involved.
There wasn't any arguments from Cobden when Skelton rode the horse in the Tingle Creek and Skelton is doing the same now and just continuing with his job and focusing on riding Nube Negra in the Champion Chase instead.
Politologue is a brilliant horse and since he's changed to front running tactics he's never looked back and if he does the same in the Clarence House he could be hard to stop.
He faces last year's winner Defi De Seuil who has been out of form as of late, but a return back to anything like his best and he could be dangerous in the race just like he was last year with an impressive performance.
Buveur D'Air also returns to the racecourse for the first time since he was beat in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle up at Newcastle back in 2019.
Nicky Henderson's horse suffered a serious splinter that day after getting it from a hurdle, which required surgery to take it out and put his racing future in serious doubt.
He returns up at Haydock where he takes on two rivals in the New One Unibet Hurdle and it'll be great if the 10 year-old still has the same spark that he had before his injury, but it's just great to have him back again.
So a lot of action on Saturday with the comeback of Buveur D'Air and the Clarence House Chase, let's just hope it lives up to the potential.
Commentaires