History making Dan Skelton passes prize-money milestone

Dan Skelton created history on Saturday by becoming the first National Hunt trainer to win more than £4million in prize-money.

Skelton, who was agonisingly reeled in last spring by Willie Mullins in the race to be champion trainer, can surely now only be caught by a freak set of results.

The horse who pushed the Lodge Hill handler to new heights was Diamond Dealer (100-30 favourite) at Kelso in the BetWright Novices’ Handicap Chase.

“It’s quite amazing, massive thanks to all the team,” Skelton told ITV Racing.

“We’ve had runners in England, Wales and Scotland today and they’ve been great, I’ve been so proud of the whole team, I don’t know what to say really, it’s amazing.

“We grew up watching my dad (Nick Skelton) be a legend in his sport and we’ve a long way to go to be anything like that but the motivation to achieve something like that is always there.

“The role model to be as good as you can be was a constant in mine and Harry’s life and we try and be that role model for those around us.

“It’s a pleasure to lead this team, it really is. I know I keep banging on about that but it is all about the team and the people you get around you because I love doing this, I absolutely love it.

“The people that you do it with make it worthwhile, to get up every morning you need a good reason to push that extra bit and the people around me ensure that I really do.

“I’m grateful to them to be honest and if I can repay them with things like this then that makes us even probably.”