Protektorat proved dropping back in trip was no issue when producing a brilliant display to claim the Ryanair Chase for the red-hot Dan Skelton team at the Cheltenham Festival.

A Grade One winner over three miles, he was third and fifth when tried in the Cheltenham Gold Cup in the past two years and connections resisted taking a third crack at the blue riband to revert to one of the day three features

There was plenty of pace on show with Stage Star and Ahoy Senor leading the field along, with Protektorat among those right on that duo’s tail in the hands of Harry Skelton.

Having travelled menacingly into contention it appeared 9-4 favourite and defending champion Envoi Allen was the one the front-runners had to worry about heading into the straight, but neither Stage Star or Protektorat were ready to give up the fight and although Stage Star faded after two out there was still plenty of fight left in Protektorat.

There was little to separate Protektorat and Henry de Bromhead’s charge jumping the final fence, but it was Protektorat’s stamina reserves which then came to the fore late in the day as the 17-2 chance stormed up the Cheltenham hill to victory.

It was Skelton’s fourth victory at this year’s Festival, and also the second in the space of 40 minutes for the collective of owners that include Sir Alex Ferguson and John Hales – whose famous yellow colours Skelton donned in the saddle.

Henry de Bromhead is confident the lack of a recent run will not harm Envoi Allen’s chances of becoming the third horse to claim back-to-back wins in the Ryanair Chase.

Albertas Run did the double for Jonjo O’Neill in 2010 and 2011, while Allaho struck twice for Willie Mullins in 2021 and 2022.

De Bromhead can take heart from the fact the former was a 10-year-old when successfully defending his title and there is also a link to the latter, who carried the same Cheveley Park Stud colours as Envoi Allen.

Last year, Envoi Allen kept on well to see off Shishkin in this race, which made it three Cheltenham Festival victories following the 2019 Champion Bumper and 12 months later prevailing in what is now known as the Gallagher Novices’ Hurdle.

He has only had a couple of outings this term, the most recent a neck second to Gerri Colombe at Down Royal back in mid-November. But De Bromhead has no fears of that proving a negative factor.

“He seems in mighty form, we’re happy with him, so fingers crossed,” said the County Waterford handler.

“I’m not at all worried that he hasn’t run since Down Royal; he’s fit and well, he’s worked well and he runs well fresh.”

Stage Star is another proven Cheltenham performer, galloping on strongly to score in the Turners Novices’ Chase at last year’s Festival and winning for the third time at Prestbury Park when surviving a final-fence blunder in November’s Paddy Power Gold Cup.

The eight-year-old blotted his copybook when pulled up here on New Year’s Day but Paul Nicholls is happy to write that off as simply a blip on what was bottomless ground.

“If he hadn’t run last time, I’d say he’d probably be favourite for the Ryanair,” said the Ditcheat handler. “We’re very happy he’s back where he is, he needs a bit of nice ground and he likes that New course.

“I just felt it was a long time between the Paddy Power and the Ryanair and sometimes you make the wrong call, but he’s very happy again now.

“If I’d had half an excuse on New Year’s Day not to run, I wouldn’t have, but no harm done, we’re very happy with him now.”

Nicholls will also saddle last year’s third Hitman, who returned to form when runner-up behind Shishkin in the Denman Chase at Newbury.

“Hitman’s form was red-hot last time when he was third to Shishkin,” added the champion trainer. “He’s a different horse to when he was third last year and he will be thereabouts again.”

Protektorat was just half a length behind Hitman in that race last month and faces a different Festival test this term after finishing fifth and third in the past two renewals of the Gold Cup.

“He’s just not hit the Gold Cup markers this year and that’s fine,” commented Dan Skelton.

“We’ve tried in two Gold Cups and finished third getting a lead and fifth turning for home in front. It hasn’t worked and we’ve left no stone unturned there.

“If you look at him in comparison to the other horses in the Ryanair, he’s equal top on ratings and he will stay that trip out really well – why not have a go.”

Conflated was third in last season’s Gold Cup and was disputing second when falling two out a couple of years ago.

He parted company with his jockey late on in two runs behind Galopin Des Champs at Leopardstown but Gordon Elliott is not giving up on his charge, who has Grade One wins in the Irish Gold Cup and the Savills Chase on his CV.

Elliott said: “He’s in good form and the Ryanair will suit him. He unseated his jockey on his last couple of runs, but he was running well both days and we’re looking forward to Thursday.”

Stablemate Fil Dor was runner-up in the 2022 Triumph and Elliott showed his faith in the six-year-old when retaining him at Cullentra House for €620,000 at the recent Andy and Gemma Brown dispersal sale.

“He’s a new recruit in the Robcour colours and we’re looking forward to him,” said Robbie Power, racing manager for his new owners.

“He’s had some good runs behind El Fabiolo over two miles – especially at Cork the last day. If stepping up in trip brings improvement, I don’t think he will be too far away.”

Banbridge is unbeaten at Cheltenham after landing the 2022 Martin Pipe contest and an Arkle trial last season.

Joseph O’Brien’s eight-year-old has enjoyed his last two trips to the UK just as much, claiming the Grade One Manifesto Novices’ Chase at Aintree last April and Kempton’s Silviniaco Conti a couple of months ago.

Capodanno is another Irish raider who does not suffer from travel sickness, judged on January’s Cotswold Chase success for Willie Mullins.

Lucinda Russell’s Ahoy Senior was well held in fourth that day, but did claim the same prize at Prestbury Park 12 months earlier, plus he was a good second to L’Homme Presse in the 2022 Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase here.

The Jamie Snowden-trained Ga Law and Richard Hobson’s Fugitif have both secured valuable handicap victories at this venue during the current campaign.

Jamie Snowden is excited to see Ga Law strut his stuff at the Cheltenham Festival after connections paid the required supplementary fee to add him to Thursday’s Ryanair Chase.

The eight-year-old is a dual winner over fences at Prestbury Park, landing last season’s Paddy Power Gold Cup and another lucrative handicap on his most recent visit in late January.

Ga Law was not beaten when fifth behind Envoi Allen in last year’s Ryanair and as Snowden feels he is in a better place mentally and physically this time around, he was added to the field at Friday’s confirmation stage at a cost of £15,000.

“The original entries for the Ryanair came out before Trials day at Cheltenham in January and he was very impressive that day, winning off a big weight. The handicapper has now put up to a point where it makes sense to have a crack at this,” said the trainer.

“We were fifth in the Ryanair last year when we were perhaps not in the same sort of form that we’re in now. We obviously won the Paddy Power that winter, but we took a nasty fall in the Sky Bet Chase and he probably wasn’t in the same kind of form that he’s in now 12 months ago and he still ran a belter.

“We do feel he’s in far better order now and hopefully he can go a few places better.

“Obviously Envoi Allen won it last year and the reports are that he’s in great order this time around as well. It certainly looks a competitive race, but forgetting the opposition, we hope that we’re coming into it in far better form than we did last year.”

Ga Law and Envoi Allen are among 12 horses in contention for the Ryanair, with Banbridge, Star Star and Capodanno also among the leading contenders.

Willie Mullins has confirmed El Fabiolo for the two-mile-five-furlong contest, but he is expected to line up as a hot favourite for the Queen Mother Champion Chase the previous afternoon.

The other feature on day three of the Festival is the Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle, with Gordon Elliott’s ante-post favourite Teahupoo one of 18 confirmations.

Elliott has also left in Irish Point, but has raised the possibility of him being switched to Tuesday’s Champion Hurdle, while Flooring Porter is on course to bid for a third Stayers’ Hurdle after his trainer Gavin Cromwell confirmed his intention to switch his stable star back to the smaller obstacles.

Grand National hero Noble Yeats (Emmet Mullins) is another major challenger from Ireland, while the home team includes 2019 Stayers’ Hurdle hero Paisley Park (Emma Lavelle) and his Long Walk conqueror Crambo (Fergal O’Brien).

Grey Dawning (Dan Skelton), Ginny’s Destiny (Paul Nicholls) and Iroko (Oliver Greenall and Josh Guerriero) are the three chief British-trained contenders for the opening Turners Novices’ Chase, with Willie Mullins leaving in Facile Vega, Gaelic Warrior, Il Etait Temps and Sharjah.

The Ryanair Mares Novices’ Hurdle, meanwhile, promises to be one of the races of the week, with Elliott’s Brighterdaysahead, the Mullins-trained Jade De Grugy and O’Brien’s Dysart Enos all set to put their unbeaten records over obstacles on the line.

The Ryanair Chase remains “very much the plan” for ante-post favourite Banbridge, despite concerns about ground conditions ahead of next week’s Cheltenham Festival.

Joseph O’Brien’s charge was a non-runner in the Turners Novices’ Chase at the showpiece meeting last year due to the rain-softened ground and the official going at Prestbury Park on Tuesday morning was soft, heavy in places.

Banbridge made an impressive start to his campaign when accounting for subsequent Ascot Chase winner Pic D’Orhy in the Grade Two Silviniaco Conti Chase at Kempton and he has since been saved for the Festival, with a final decision on his participation unlikely to be made until the morning of the race.

“There’s still a long time to go between now and then, there’s lots of racing to happen and lots of weather forecasts that will come and go,” said O’Brien.

“As we’ve said all along, we’ll look forward to the race and hopefully we’ll walk the track on the morning of the race and hopefully he can run.

“Very much the plan is to run. He’s prepared well for Cheltenham so far.”

Banbridge is set to lead a small but select team of “six or seven” runners for O’Brien across the biggest four days of the season in the Cotswolds.

He added: “Hopefully we’ll have something running most of the days, some of them would like the ground a bit softer and some of them would like it a bit quicker.

“At the moment, it looks as if it’s going to favour the horses that prefer a bit of juice, but let’s see what happens – it can dry out fast and it can get softer quickly too. We’ll keep an eye on things over the next week.”

Lark In The Mornin heads the betting for the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle, but O’Brien revealed his participation is “up in the air”.

Considering some of his other running plans, he said: “Nurburgring is an intended runner in the Triumph Hurdle, he is still entered in the Boodles but he’s going to run in the Triumph.

“Home By The Lee is in the Stayers’ Hurdle, we’ll have Solness in the Grand Annual and Busselton in the Ultima Handicap Chase, so there’s a few runners there.”

Hopes of a third Ryanair Chase win for the brilliant Allaho have been dashed for the second year in succession after connections were again forced to rule him out of the Cheltenham Festival.

The Willie Mullins-trained 10-year-old carried the colours of Cheveley Park Stud to stunning Ryanair wins in 2021 and 2022, but missed the entirety of last season through injury.

He made a successful return from 19 months on the sidelines in the Clonmel Oil Chase in November and while he had to make do with minor honours in third when favourite for the King George at Kempton on Boxing Day, he bounced back to winning ways when notching a third triumph in last week’s Horse & Jockey Hotel Chase at Thurles.

That 13-length victory saw Allaho cement his place at the head of ante-post lists for this year’s Ryanair Chase on March 14, but he will not be making the trip to Prestbury Park.

Chris Richardson, Cheveley Park’s managing director, told the PA news agency: “Allaho was found to be lame after his race at Thurles and it’s been diagnosed as a strained hock, so he’s going to require several weeks rest and recuperation and therefore sadly misses Cheltenham.

“It’s very frustrating, as it was good to see him return to form the other day, but he wasn’t 100 per cent afterwards and we’re just going to have to give him the time, I’m afraid.”

A third Ryanair Chase is the ultimate goal for Allaho, who has been been pencilled in to return in the Clonmel Oil Chase having been given a clean bill of health by Willie Mullins.

The dual Cheltenham Festival winner has not been seen since claiming Punchestown Gold Cup glory in the spring of 2022 with a rare spleen injury keeping him sidelined for the whole 2022-23 campaign.

However, the master of Closutton is happy with where he has the nine-year-old ahead of his slated November 9 return, with sights firmly fixed on a third victory at Prestbury Park in the spring.

“Allaho had a very unusual injury last year, I think it was around this time,” said Mullins.

“He came back from the gallops and he displayed signs of colic and yet we couldn’t find any colic in him. All his vitals were all right but it transpired he had a bleed on his spleen which is very unusual, I’ve never heard of it before in a horse.

“He’s a huge horse, about the biggest in the yard, and one of the things with big horses is they can carry weight easier over longer trips but sometimes it makes it tricky carrying their own weight over their career.

“But he’s in great shape this year and I’m very happy with him and he’ll probably start off in the Clonmel Oil, I think he’s ready for that and hopefully he’ll be back for the Ryanair again if we can.

“People will maybe say the Gold Cup but I think the trip is too long for him. He’s good around Cheltenham over that Ryanair trip.”

It is also set to be business as usual for Galopin Des Champs, whose quest for back-to-back victories in the Cheltenham Gold Cup will begin in Punchestown’s John Durkan Memorial Chase on November 26.

The seven-year-old was an emphatic 13-length winner of the race last season and Mullins has no issue with the race’s new place on the calendar as part of the Kildare track’s two-day Winter Festival.

“I’m happy enough (with him) and I know the John Durkan is a week nearer the start of the season this year which is probably better and I assume we go there,” added Mullins.

“I imagine I will try to do what I did last year with him and keep the same routine. He will set off there and hopefully he will be all right and then Christmas at Leopardstown, then the Dublin Racing Festival and then on to Cheltenham and Punchestown.”

With dual Champion Chase winner Energumene out of action, it could be left to El Fabiolo to try to continue Closutton’s dominance in the two-mile chase division.

First port of call for last year’s impressive Arkle winner is filling Energumene’s shoes in Cork’s Hilly Way Chase before connections plot a course to the Champion Chase in March.

Mullins said: “He’s our replacement at this stage of time for Energumene.

“I think he will start off in the Hilly Way, I think that is the place to go. Then plan a route to Cheltenham.”

Also set to start off over two miles is the gallant front-runner Dysart Dynamo, who could contest Naas’ Barberstown Castle Poplar Square Chase on November 12.

“Dysart Dynamo’s ability seems to be the fact that he can jump and gallop from the start and he probably needs nice ground to do that,” said Mullins.

“I think he is a Poplar Square chaser, start him off at Naas and we will take the two-mile route with him for the rest of the season I think.”

Blue Lord is another who could make his mark in the two-mile division this term, although he will join Allaho at Clonmel to start his campaign.

Mullins went on went on: “Blue Lord is another pencilled in for the Clonmel Oil Chase. He was very impressive at Leopardstown over two miles but we know he stays two and a half. I don’t want to go much further with him I think.

“So he will go down the two to two-and-a-half-mile route. Champion Chase, Ryanair Chase are the type of race we will look at and we will see where he puts himself after a couple of races. We will start off at the Clonmel Oil and then go back to that race at Christmas that he won last season.”

Sir Gerhard will return with chasing on the agenda, however, his handler is willing to make a mid-season switch to the smaller obstacles if things do not go to plan and he could feasibly become a Stayers’ Hurdle contender by the spring.

Mullins explained: “He won well the first day and I think he jumped poorly enough after that. He was just beaten in the WillowWarm Gold Cup at Fairyhouse, he jumped well I think that day and was just beaten.

“We were wondering did he not stay and his pedigree suggests he should stay much further than that. He is horse who I think if I can get his jumping right, then he should stay over fences.

“I’m not sure which trip, at one stage I thought he could be a Champion Hurdle horse when he won his maiden hurdle in Leopardstown and then we went out in trip with him because he didn’t jump well enough. We know he has the ability to jump well when he wants to.

“What we might do is if things don’t go well over fences in the early part of the season, I might switch him to be a staying hurdler. That’s the way I’m looking at him, but I would rather stay over fences if I can get his jumping right.”

Also with a brief hurdling foray looming is Monkfish who seems to be over the worst of his injury worries, with his trainer even speculating a Gold Cup entry could be on the cards.

“I was very happy how he came out of the season with his two runs and he is in great shape on the gallops,” said Mullins.

“I imagine I will start him off over hurdles, just to get a run under his belt and then I would hope to go back chasing, that’s the plan anyhow.

“So far so good and his health problems have been no problem this season. Who knows he may get a Gold Cup entry, if all goes well.”

However, one still very much on the road to recovery is Ferny Hollow, with Mullins envisaging a back-end return if the former Champion Bumper winner is to race this season.

“Ferny is making very slow progress, we were not very happy with him at all last spring and we decided to give him the summer off and reports are a lot better now given more time,” he explained.

“I’m hoping we just give him all the time that he wants, he is too good a horse to put by the wayside at this stage.

“I don’t think we’ll make a plan for him this season, if anything it will be the very end of the season, but I wouldn’t be putting him in any 10 to follow or anything like that.”

Meanwhile, all roads lead back to Aintree for last year’s Grand National third Gaillard Du Mesnil.

“He looks the obvious horse to stay going for the Aintree Grand National,” said Mullins.

“I’m wondering which direction to go with him and I know I want to get a few more runs into him this year.

“Whether I start him off over hurdles or fences, the Aintree National will be the main target and I have no plan made for him at this stage. But he might have three or four runs before the big one.”