Dan Skelton is willing to bide his time before deciding whether Warwick winner Grey Dawning heads to the Virgin Bet Scilly Isles Chase next or goes straight to the Cheltenham Festival.

A drop back in trip for the Sandown Grade One had been mentioned as a potential next stepping stone for the versatile Hampton Novices’ Chase victor, but his handler would like to wait a little longer before deciding if that would be the right thing to do by his likeable charge.

The Grade Two scorer could instead head straight to Prestbury Park where the three-mile Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase has been nominated as the likely port of call at the Festival in March.

“I’m going to have a think about Grey Dawning,” said Skelton.

“Immediately after the race I thought we would go to Sandown. Whether that is clever or not, I will give it a week to think about.

“I think we would just go for the three-mile race at Cheltenham if we didn’t (go to Sandown), but that’s not me looking to not run.

“I want to run him because he’s a horse who loves racing, but I would only run him if I was really, really certain it was the right thing to do.”

Stablemate Galia Des Liteaux was also in action at Warwich, where she was stayed on strongly in vain when second in the Classic Chase.

The classy eight-year-old will now be pointed towards the Randox Grand National, with Skelton following the same route he took to Aintree with Le Milos 12 months ago by stopping off at Kelso’s bet365 Premier Chase in March first.

“Galia Des Liteaux will go for the Listed chase up at Kelso on March 2 before going for the Grand National,” continued Skelton.

“We tried it with Le Milos last year and it didn’t quite come off, but it doesn’t mean we won’t try it again.”

Asian Master earned Cheltenham quotes in taking his record to two from two under rules in the Race Displays Rated Novice Hurdle at Navan.

A point-to-point winner for Tony Costello, he switched to Willie Mullins for his hurdling campaign and struck at the first time of asking at Thurles.

Made the 4-6 favourite to follow up in the hands of his amateur rider Thomas Costello, the market leader was always moving well on the heels of pacesetter Better Days Ahead.

Ridden to take over going to the last, Asian Master quickly went clear to score by 10 lengths from Better Days Ahead.

The seven-year-old was introduced at 40-1 for the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle by Betfair and Paddy Power.

“I thought my horse travelled very sweet and I could see Jack Kennedy niggling his lad (Better Days Ahead) to stay in front,” said Costello, who is the grandson of the renowned late bloodstock dealer Tom Costello, whose graduates included such luminaries as three-time Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Best Mate.

“I thought he travelled way better than him everywhere and jumped better. I fancied him today and thought he’d win to be honest. His work at home was very good, he has a fantastic attitude and takes everything in his stride.

“Jack’s horse was the horse to take out of it and I thought he’d beat him.

“We’re enjoying every day we have with him and fingers crossed, if he stays safe and lucky, we’ll have another few days out of him.”

Costello is extremely tall for a jockey and said: “I’d like to say I’m 6 (foot) 4 (inches) but I wouldn’t like to measure myself at the same time in case I got a fright!”

Allaho bids to bounce back from King George defeat in the Horse & Jockey Hotel Chase at Thurles on Sunday.

The Grade Two contest has twice proved a springboard to Cheltenham Festival glory for the Willie Mullins-trained gelding, with his 2021 and 2022 triumphs preceding a pair of stunning front-running victories in the Ryanair Chase for owners Cheveley Park Stud.

He was similarly jaw-dropping when winning the 2022 Punchestown Gold Cup, but having since spent 19 months on the sidelines, there is a question mark over how much of his former brilliance he retains.

The 10-year-old was solid rather than spectacular when making a successful comeback in November’s Clonmel Oil Chase and could finish only third as a hot favourite for Kempton’s Boxing Day showpiece.

“Allaho came out of his last race fine,” said Cheveley Park’s managing director Chris Richardson.

“I think it’s fair to say we were hoping for a bit more from him (in the King George), maybe the ground was a bit lively and there is maybe a slight question mark whether he really stayed the three miles.

“I think coming back in trip will suit him well, so hopefully he can run well on Sunday and then we can head back for the Ryanair again.”

Henry de Bromhead’s Envoi Allen, who proved a super-sub for Allaho when winning last season’s Ryanair Chase, has also been declared for the Cheveley Park team.

Allaho is one of four runners for the champion trainer alongside Appreciate It, Capodanno and Stattler, with the Mouse Morris-trained French Dynamite completing the field.

The latter has been kept fresh since finishing third behind Classic Getaway, trained by Mullins and owned by Cheveley Park, at this track in November.

“He’s grand, the ground is good so I’d be hoping for a good run,” said Morris.

“It’s a good race, they always are but this is the right race for him. It’s a Grade Two on good ground and I don’t have a lot of options.

“I still have to get him qualified for the National, he needs to be in the first four over three miles so I don’t know just yet. I’m hoping for a big run this weekend anyhow.”

The British Horseracing Authority has announced that the Clarence House Chase has been rescheduled for Cheltenham’s Festival Trials Day meeting next weekend.

Just like 12 months ago, Ascot’s card on Saturday was frozen off but the Grade One highlight has been saved.

It was due to feature a heavyweight clash between Jonbon and El Fabiolo, but with the BHA confirming the race will be run for £105,00, a reduction in prize-money of £70,000, it appears El Fabiolo will stay closer to home

Simon Munir, who owns El Fabiolo along with Isaac Souede, told Sportinglife.com: “Unfortunately, with Ascot cancelled due to the weather, the rearranged Clarence House will most probably take place next week on January 27.

“We have decided that El Fabiolo could run at the Dublin Racing Festival on February 4 without the need to travel over to England.”

The Clarence House has been called off three times in the last 11 years due to the weather, with Sprinter Sacre (2013), Un De Sceaux (2017) and Editeur Du Gite (2023) triumphing in rearranged contests at Cheltenham.

Jonbon is likely to be there, with his trainer Nicky Henderson telling ITV Racing before the announcement: “We had discussions yesterday which happened very quickly when Ascot was administered the last rights, one might say, before 4pm.

“We’re very keen to go there. We’re very keen to run, when you have a horse ready for this Saturday, you couldn’t afford not to be near a big peak.

“I was genuinely looking forward to the race on Saturday and it’s sad that it is not going to happen. Whether it might happen next weekend now, I don’t know.

“It looks like there will be a reduction in prize money, but we intend to be there.

“This was going to be a great clash at Ascot. Both teams were well prepped. We were quite bullish, now we’ve got to wait another week when a lot of things could go wrong. One week won’t make a difference but two weeks probably would, as we want to build him back up for March.”

New entries will need to be made for the race before noon on Monday.

Other races that have been saved following the recent spate of abandonments are the Grade Two Mares Warfield Hurdle (from Ascot) and the Grade Two Rossington Main Novices’ Hurdle (from Haydock), which will both now be staged at Doncaster next weekend, the Warfield on Sunday and the Rossington Main on Saturday.

The Listed Alan Swinbank Mares Bumper is being rescheduled for the next Market Rasen fixture on Tuesday, February 6.

Tom Byrne, BHA head of racing and betting, said: “When rescheduling, there are often questions regarding the reduced prize-money values the races are subsequently run for.

“Where a race is added to a pre-existing card at a different racecourse, there are usually significant challenges for that new venue, including the limited time to secure sponsorship support, changing ITV coverage and existing prize-money commitments.

“Therefore, a combination of additional Levy Board and BHA prize-money funds are utilised to support the Racecourse Executive contribution and entry fees to run these races at as high a value as possible. This is usually below the original value due to the limited nature of those additional central funds.”

Godolphin won the Group Two Cape Verdi at Meydan yet again – but not with the filly many expected, as Silver Lady held off her stablemate English Rose.

Both fillies are trained by Charlie Appleby but English Rose, the mount of William Buick, was a red-hot favourite given she headed into the contest on the back of winning both her starts at Newmarket and Kempton.

Silver Lady also won a Newmarket maiden but since then had run in Pattern company without success, with a third place in a Listed race at York on her second start the best she had managed in three subsequent outings.

She appeared to be regressing with racing, having finished last of 11 on her latest outing, but the daughter of Sea The Stars was rejuvenated by Mickael Barzalona.

Brought with a run with over a furlong to run, she took over from Shining Jewel and Hugo Palmer’s Stenton Glider, but English Rose was a persistent challenger on her outside.

Silver Lady managed to hold on, however, prevailing by a neck, with Stenton Glider fending off Nibras Angel for third.

Appleby was winning the race for the fifth time in six years, while Barzalona said: “She has a bit of temperament but I took her down steady and she settled well.

“During the race, the first part was pretty rough but when I found my position, she was able to take a big breath and she picked up well.

“I could feel my filly was not getting tired but William came pretty easily beside me. I think my filly showed a good attitude, I think the Balanchine will be next.”

Joint-owner Simon Munir has indicated El Fabiolo is unlikely to run in a rearranged Clarence House Chase.

With Ascot’s meeting on Saturday frozen off, talks are ongoing about rescheduling the Grade One feature, with Cheltenham’s Trials day meeting next weekend seemingly an obvious destination.

The Willie Mullins-trained El Fabiolo was due to meet with Nicky Henderson’s Jonbon in what was being billed as one of the races of the season, but racegoers now seem set to have to wait until the Festival in March for a third clash between the pair.

Munir, who owns El Fabiolo with Isaac Souede, told Sportinglife.com: “Unfortunately, with Ascot cancelled due to the weather, the rearranged Clarence House will most probably take place next week on January 27.

“We have decided that El Fabiolo could run at the Dublin Racing Festival on February 4 without the need to travel over to England.”

The Clarence House has been called off three times in the last 11 years due to the weather, with Sprinter Sacre (2013), Un De Sceaux (2017) and Editeur Du Gite (2023) triumphing in rearranged contests at Cheltenham.

Editeur Du Gite took home £52,280 for his troubles last year and Patrick Mullins, assistant to his father, believes any reduction to the original Ascot winner’s pot of £98,472 would make the €88,500 Ladbrokes Dublin Chase a more logical choice.

He told ITV Racing: “It will have to be discussed, but if it’s a case of it being half the prize money and it’s a week later, it might make more sense to go to the DRF.

“It hasn’t been completely decided yet, but I would have thought, especially for only half the money, a better option might be the Dublin Racing Festival, perhaps.

“We were very happy with him, he worked really well at the Curragh on Tuesday. Paul (Townend) rode him last week and he was very happy with him as he doesn’t usually get to ride him at home.”

Ben Brookhouse has not lost faith in his star bumper performer Brechin Castle, who is set to warm up for a trip to the Cheltenham Festival with an outing at Newbury next month.

A £165,000 recruit from the Irish point-to-point field, the six-year-old bolted up on his debut under rules at Sedgefield before successfully transitioning to Listed class at Cheltenham in November.

He met with defeat for the first time when filling the runner-up spot in another Listed event at Ascot before Christmas, but was far from disgraced in finishing second to Dan Skelton’s exciting mare Let It Rain, to whom he was conceding 11lb.

“I think it was one of his best runs, to be fair,” Brookhouse said of his Ascot performance.

“We were giving 11lb to the winner and when she won it wasn’t a massive surprise to me because I did think she was the one to be worried about, because of the weight we were giving her.

“We gave 4lb to everything else and gave them a good beating, it was just giving 11lb to the Skelton horse that proved too much for us.”

Next on Brechin Castle’s is the Betfair Bumper, the finale on Newbury’s Betfair Hurdle card on February 10, and Brookhouse would relish a rematch with Let It Rain should it happen.

He added: “He had a small break over Christmas and New Year out in the paddock with his rugs on and the plan would be to go to Newbury in February in preparation for Cheltenham.

“He seems in great order for his break. He put on weight and didn’t lose any muscle or anything. He just did exactly what we wanted him to, which was refill the petrol tank.

“If we bump into the Skelton horse at Newbury she is not a four-year-old anymore, so she won’t get the four-year-old allowance, and she’ll have a 4lb penalty for winning a Listed race, so all of a sudden that 11lb we gave her is nigh on non-existent.”

Brechin Castle is a 33-1 shot for the Weatherbys Champion Bumper at Cheltenham in March, and while he will undoubtedly have to contend with a formidable Irish contingent come the Festival, a return to winning ways at Newbury may well make him Britain’s leading candidate for the Grade One contest.

Brookhouse said: “He’s got course form at Cheltenham, he’s had plenty of racing and plenty of experience. You could argue he’s exposed, but all he can do is beat what’s put in front of him and the only chink in his armour was he was beaten trying to give 11lb to a nice filly.

“Weight stops train, let alone horses, so we can’t blame him for that. He was giving 4lb to several other horses who at the time were considered the best young bumper horses in the country and I don’t want to sound confident or cocky, but he was pulling away from the third at the finish and he wiped the floor with them.”

Grade One winner My Drogo is set to revert to hurdles, with a run over the smaller obstacles at Exeter pencilled in for next month.

Dan Skelton’s charge has already tasted plenty of success over timber and was unbeaten during his novice hurdling campaign, which ended when securing top honours at Aintree in 2021.

It was thought he would prove even better once tackling fences, but a long injury absence which began early in his novice chasing season meant life over the larger obstacles never really took off.

He returned from 687 days off the track in Aintree’s Old Roan Chase in the autumn but, having finished down the field, connections have bided their time before now deciding to switch back to hurdles, where he will try three miles for the first time in the Pertemps Network Handicap Hurdle on February 11.

“He’s actually really well,” explained Skelton.

“He wasn’t quite right through November, nothing legs or tendon related, he just wasn’t really firing. We were just bearing with him and he’s now come back to something much more like what we have seen before.

“He will go to Exeter on February 11 for a three-mile handicap hurdle. We’re going to go back over hurdles with him and that’s when we will hopefully see him. We’re just going to get him back out and see how we go.”

Simon and Ed Crisford hold a strong hand as they go in search of back-to-back victories in Lingfield’s BetMGM Winter Oaks Fillies’ Handicap on Saturday.

The father and son operation claimed the £100,000 contest with Al Agaila 12 months ago and likely big-race favourite Oh So Grand has plotted a similar course to the Winter Million Festival event by landing the Winter Oaks Trial over track and trip last month.

Jack Mitchell was in the saddle for both that triumph and a previous success at Newcastle and resumes the partnership, as his mount now seeks to build on her impressive all-weather record.

Meanwhile, the Gainsborough Thoroughbreds team have a more than handy second string to their bow with Twirling, who has won two of four starts at a mile and now steps up in trip with Ryan Moore in the plate.

Simon Crisford said: “Both Oh So Grand and Twirling are in good form and we have been very happy with their preparations for this race.

“Both of them will need to run career-best figures to feature, but we are hopeful that they are capable of doing that.”

Oh So Grand is the highest rated in the field, but only 2lb behind her is recent Wolverhampton scorer Miss Bluebelle, who bids to quickly double up for handler Marcus Tregoning.

The five-year-old received a 7lb rise for a facile three-length victory at Dunstall Park and, although having a career-high mark to overcome, her handler is optimistic of a bold showing.

“She’s come out of her race (at Wolverhampton) well and is in good form,” said Tregoning.

“That was only a week ago but she has come out of it very well and we won’t worry about that. She has a good draw and we will hope for the best.

“It’s a fairly open race and hopefully she will run really well.”

John and Thady Gosden’s Queen Regent has just over a length to find with Oh So Grand on their meeting in the Winter Oaks Trial and is now tried in first-time cheekpieces representing big-name connections, while no one arguably arrives in better form than Storymaker, who has been unbeatable of late.

It was not until the 15th race of her career that Storymaker got on the scoresheet but that opened the floodgates for George Boughey’s four-year-old, who will be bidding for a fifth-straight success.

“She’s been an amazing filly for us and it’s incredible really, she raced 14 times last year and the penny didn’t drop, but she’s just gone bang, bang, bang, bang now – and she’s a filly in form,” said Sam Hoskins, racing manager for owners Hot To Trot Racing.

“She should get the trip and has won round the track. It’s a much better race and worth £100,000 and we’ve got to support races worth that amount of money.

“She’s in top form and enjoying it and I know George feels she is not showing any signs of exertion – she’s looking great. She has got a chance and the rider Tommie Jakes is good value for his claim. Hopefully, she will run a really good race.”

A decision has yet to be made on whether “unknown quantity” Gentlemansgame runs in the Paddy Power Irish Gold Cup.

Grade One-placed over hurdles, the Mouse Morris-trained eight-year-old has only had three chasing start, but has won two of those – including Wetherby’s Charlie Hall Chase, in which he beat last year’s King George winner, Bravemansgame.

The Robcour-owned gelding was being prepared for Leopardstown over Christmas when he would have met Willie Mullins’ Galopin Des Champs before a setback intervened. However, that clash could still happen pre-Cheltenham at the Dublin Racing Festival.

“If he runs anywhere he’ll go to Leopardstown for the Gold Cup,” said Morris.

“If not he’ll just go straight to Cheltenham. Touch wood at the minute he’s well.

“It was just a stone bruise, but it went right up his foot. He wasn’t out of training for too long which was great.

“He worked at Punchestown the other day and he worked well.

“He’s still still the unknown quantity really, he hasn’t run against Galopin Des Champs yet.”