Dan Skelton made no bones about Willie Mullins’ unquestionable Cheltenham dominance, but he took the Festival fight to his rival’s door with a thrilling Grade One double on day three.

Wednesday marked Mullins 100th overall success at the National Hunt spectacular, with Skelton admitting it is now less about the home team taking on Ireland and more about everyone trying to remain competitive with Team Mullins.

Recent years have marked a distinct lack of Festival success for British-trained runners, but Skelton is doing his level best to buck the trend, supplementing a day two double with Grade One glory courtesy of Grey Dawning in the Turners Novices’ Chase and Protektorat in the Ryanair Chase.

Grey Dawning had to repel the challenge of the Paul Nicholls-trained Ginny’s Destiny for his win, with Venetia Williams’ Djelo taking third for a rare British clean sweep, while Protektorat was too strong for Henry de Bromhead’s defending champion Envoi Allen over the near two-mile-five-furlong trip of the Ryanair.

Both were partnered by Skelton’s brother Harry, and the trainer could hardly contain his delight after a dual strike on the biggest stage of all.

He said: “This is the place you want to win and when you beat Paul, when you beat Willie, when you beat Nicky (Henderson) and Gordon (Elliott) and Henry, they’re legitimate victories. It’s hard to do and we enjoy doing it.

“It’s remarkable how things are going, I’m very proud of the whole team. This is what you plan to do, but it actually coming off is very, very different.”

A nightmare set of Festival results in 2021 saw just five victories for British trainers, but Skelton’s winners combined with Paul Nicholls’ win in the Pertemps Final with Monmiral and the Kim Bailey-trained Chianti Classico’s verdict in the Ultima on the opening day had ensured no repeat of that disappointment by the middle of the third day.

While Skelton has faith fortunes will turn again in British trainers’ favour eventually, he believes the hard work will be in catching the all-conquering Mullins squad.

He added: “It’s not easy, we’re not having things our own way (in Britain), maybe we were used to having things our own way for so long.

“This is a sport, people have supporters and as trainers we have owners. What we’ve got to do is knuckle down, we all are, and get stuck into it and it’ll turn. I’m not saying it will turn all the way back and it probably wouldn’t be a good thing to have such one-sidedness ever again.

“Willie by his own admission says he seeks competition and all of this England versus Ireland talk, I hate to break it to everyone but it’s everyone versus Willie, so we need a dose of reality on that as well.”

Connections of L’Homme Presse could do little but sit and watch last year’s Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup unfold before them, but 12 months on he is tasked with leading the British charge in the blue riband.

With the Irish raiders dominating the top of the Gold Cup market, it falls on Venetia Williams’ nine-year-old to fly the flag for the home team, having already enjoyed one special day at the Cheltenham Festival when winning the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase in 2022.

Owned by Andy and Pam Edwards alongside Peter and Patricia Pink, it was injury that saw their pride and joy miss the action in the Cotswolds last year, but he served a timely reminder of his staying qualities when making an emotional winning return at Lingfield in the Fleur De Lys Chase.

Things didn’t go to a similar plan when putting the finishing touches to his Gold Cup preparations in the Ascot Chase last month, although his handler is unperturbed by that reversal at the hands of the speedier Pic D’Orhy.

“I still assess his Ascot run exactly as I did on the day,” said Williams.

“I was very pleased with the run and it wasn’t the ideal race for him as it was just over two and a half miles on nearly good ground which we know is too much of a speed test and not a stamina test.

“In the circumstances up against Pic D’Orhy, who is very much a speed horse, I was very pleased with his run.”

The Herefordshire handler used the Ascot Chase to set-up Teeton Mill’s Gold Cup bid in 1999 and Williams will be hoping L’Homme Presse will fare better in his crack at the blue riband than that runner, who was pulled-up as the 7-2 second favourite in the year See More Business ruled the Cotswolds.

“He will line up at the start with all of them and it’s a very competitive race, so he will have as good a chance as any of them,” added Williams.

“It’s the Gold Cup isn’t it and there’s lots of top horses there, but I like to think we will have our chance. It’s what you hope to be doing with a horse of his quality and you hope to be competitive at the top table and we will see. Hopefully he will be there good and well.”

See More Business was of course the first Gold Cup winner for Paul Nicholls, who has gone on to score with Kauto Star in 2007 and 2009 and Denman, whose 2008 triumph sandwiched in the middle.

Bravemansgame came closest to giving Ditcheat a first Gold Cup since 2009 when second to Galopin Des Champs last year and the champion trainer believes he has his star stayer in much better shape than when runner-up in defence of his King George title on Boxing Day.

He said: “It just didn’t work in the autumn, it was heavy ground in the Charlie Hall and then we ran him a bit quick in the Betfair Chase, which was close enough to Kempton. It just didn’t work out but he’s very well now.

“In another year we’d have done things differently and the ground may have been different, but I’m very happy we haven’t run him since Kempton and we could go to Aintree or Punchestown like last year.

“He worked well on Saturday morning, he looks great and I think I have him in a good place. He did well at Kempton (in a racecourse gallop) and he’s in better shape than he was then.

“We’ve all got to beat the favourite but I’m really happy with where he is, I think we’ll see a much better horse than we’ve seen so far this season and if he runs like last year, he’ll be there or thereabouts.”

Bravemansgame was up with the pace until giving way to the eventual winner after the last 12 months ago, but Nicholls does not envisage a change of plan this time around as they seek a different outcome to the finish.

He added: “I’ll leave tactics to Harry (Cobden). Last year he was right on the front end and at the end of the day he ran a great race riding him like that.

“Galopin Des Champs was dropped in and had a dream run (last year). They are going to ride him a lot more positively now because he stays and Harry will slot in where he is happy.”

Two places behind Bravemansgame at Kempton over Christmas was The Real Whacker, who further enhanced his Gold Cup claims when second in the Cotswold Chase on Festival Trials day.

Trained by Yorkshire-based Irishman Patrick Neville, he was a brave winner of the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase at the meeting in 2023 and this has been the eight-year-old’s ultimate goal ever since.

Neville said: “He’s in great form, this has been the target all year and we’re hopeful he’s improved again from his last run.

“Hopefully the ground will dry out a little bit, but we’re not too worried about it – it is what is at this stage and he did win in soft ground there last year.

“He was just looking around a bit the last day and we’ve worked him a few days in the visor and we’re a bit like Tesco, every little helps! He’s entitled to be there and I couldn’t be happier with him going into the race, so we can do no more.”

Corach Rambler is another with winning form at Prestbury Park and the dual Ultima winner will now take his chance at the highest level en route to the defence of his Grand National crown.

“It’s a difficult thing as we feel the National is his main aim, but we know he runs well round Cheltenham so that gives us hope he can run well,” said trainer Lucinda Russell’s partner and assistant, Peter Scudamore. “We’re hopeful he could get a place.”

Also taking in the blue riband before a trip to Aintree next month is Gary Moore’s Welsh Grand National victor Nassalam, who bids to join the likes of Native River, Synchronised and Burrough Hill Lad by supplementing victory in the Chepstow marathon with success in the Cotswolds.

Moore said: “This rain will be beneficial to him, it will slow the others down a bit hopefully.

“I personally didn’t think he had the class for the Gold Cup before he ran the race he did in the Welsh Grand National. I’m kind of being guided by the handicapper, he’s kind of telling me he’s a 160 horse. Is he? I don’t know.

“I’ve never trained a Gold Cup horse and I’ve never trained a Grand National horse. I think he’s entitled to run in his ground because he jumps and stays well, but (if it dries) he might not get his ground to see him at his best.”

Connections of L’Homme Presse are putting thoughts of the Cheltenham Gold Cup to one side as he heads to the Betfair Ascot Chase for a race that has been likened to the FA Cup Final.

Venetia Williams’ nine-year-old has already tasted success at the Cheltenham Festival as a novice, but he missed out on a shot at the blue riband in 2023 as an injury following his run in the King George VI Chase curtailed his season.

After a long and arduous 391-day absence L’Homme Presse returned in style to claim the Fleur De Lys Chase at Lingfield last month and having suffered the heartbreak of missing out on Grade One opportunities during his time on the sidelines, connections are excited to head to Ascot on Saturday for a race won by some of the sport’s greats over the years.

“We’re very calm and relaxed and looking forward to it,” said Andy Edwards, who co-owns L’Homme Presse with Peter and Patricia Pink.

“The horse is well and it’s exciting to be in a Grade One chase at Ascot.”

He went on: “When I was young and thought about owning a racehorse, days like Saturday are what dreams are made of. Footballers want to play in the FA Cup Final at Wembley and for me to be in a Grade One chase at Ascot is a privilege. Although everyone wants to talk about the Gold Cup, this is its own race in its own right and deserves proper merit.

“Cheltenham is obviously his end goal, but it is not the be all and end all. It may be the Olympics of our sport and where we want to get to, but there are lots of fantastic opportunities on the way and as we found out last year, you have to take your opportunities, because your dreams could be cut short very quickly – you can’t put your eggs in one basket.”

A select field of four will head to post, and Edwards has enormous respect for both Pic D’Orhy and Ahoy Senor, believing spectators at the Berkshire track could be in for a thrilling contest – similar to when L’Homme Presse went toe-to-toe with Protektorat in his Lingfield comeback.

“It might be a small field, but there are some very good horses in there – they have speed and like to run from the front” he continued.

“When we beat Pic D’Orhy in the Scilly Isles, that horse wasn’t himself and didn’t suit the heavy ground and track maybe. Ascot will suit him much better and he’s already won there earlier on this season.

“Ahoy Senor is a Grade One winner who beat us at Aintree and he came second to us in the Brown Advisory. He clearly goes better after Christmas and it is his time of year to start coming to himself.

“I think it will end up a proper race, just like Lingfield. There might only have been two horses in contention from eight fences out, but the race between L’Homme Presse and Protektorat was full on – it wasn’t an easy sprint finish like Galopin Des Champs had at Leopardstown recently. I’m sure Saturday will be the same.”

One who knows his way round every inch of Ascot is Pic D’Orhy, who had the misfortune of bumping into an on-song Shishkin in this race 12 months ago, but took advantage of that rival’s refusal to start when picking up Grade Two honours at the track in the autumn.

A top-table winner at Aintree last spring, a return to Merseyside is on the cards after this assignment, with champion trainer Paul Nicholls confident his consistent nine-year-old can take a hand in the finish here.

He said: “Consistency is his big thing and he runs in some good races, he won his Grade One at Aintree last year, and I’m sure he will run another solid race again on Saturday. He’s just a high-class horse who always runs to a high level.

“He’s not slow and he’s never been further than two and a half or two-mile-five – it suits him very well.

“Ultimately L’Homme Presse is en route to the Gold Cup and stays very nicely and Ascot is a stiff two-mile-five and the ground is not going to be quick at the moment, so I imagine stamina will come into it a little bit. But this is the ideal trip for us.

“Shishkin beat him in the race last year and funnily, even though he has won at Ascot a few times, he seems happier on a flatter track – he seems to keep his best form for a flatter track. But he’s good at Ascot and touch wood he jumps nicely and hopefully he has a nice chance.

“He will probably go to Aintree after this. I wouldn’t have thought he would go to Cheltenham and we’re quite keen to do what we did last year. If he has a hard race, which undoubtedly it will be a tough race, then it’s soon enough to Cheltenham and he will better off going to Aintree.”

Lucinda Russell drops Ahoy Senor back in distance as connections contemplate a tilt at the Ryanair Chase at the Cheltenham Festival.

Little has gone right for the dual Grade One winner this term, but Peter Scudamore, Russell’s partner and assistant, feels he is beginning to show his best at home on the gallops.

He said: “We feel we have probably got it wrong and things haven’t come quite right this season, his form figures will tell you that.

“I thought he ran well last time at Cheltenham and feels right now. It’s obviously a very competitive race and if he can run a big race we can see where we go at Cheltenham with him.

“I’m very happy with him like I was last time when he went to Cheltenham and hopefully this will just put him spot on for Cheltenham this time.”

Dan Skelton’s Sail Away completes the line-up.

L’Homme Presse sets out to prove he very much remains a Cheltenham Gold Cup contender when he makes his eagerly-awaited comeback in the Fitzdares Fleur De Lys Chase at Lingfield.

The feature of Lingfield’s Winter Million Festival has attracted a field of six and it is Venetia Williams’ high-class staying chaser that sets the standard, despite being off the track for over a year.

He looked booked for second in the King George VI Chase before unshipping his big-race pilot Charlie Deutsch at the last while giving chase to Bravemansgame, and before that had built up an impressive chasing CV which includes victory at the Cheltenham Festival as a novice and a mammoth effort off top-weight in Newcastle’s Rehearsal Chase.

Following a long 13-month wait, L’Homme Presse – who is as short as 12-1 for the Gold Cup – now seeks to reaffirm his position towards the top of the staying chasing ranks, with connections optimistic of a bold bid in the two-mile-six-furlong affair.

“It’s been a long 13 months and a lot of effort has been put in to get him back,” said Andy Edwards, who owns L’Homme Presse in partnership with Peter Pink.

“This trip, for his comeback is ideal really, it’s an intermediate trip and it should suit him down to the ground.

“He doesn’t lack in pace and he certainly doesn’t lack in staying power as we saw in the Brown Advisory.

“He is ready to go, but he has had 13 months off. He’s run well fresh before, but whether he can run to the top of his form having had so long off we will find out.

“It’s no good looking at basic ratings because that is the best he has ever done and it’s unlikely he can achieve that first time out, but of course we are hopeful that he can.”

L’Homme Presse will be in receipt of 4lb from former Gold Cup third Protektorat, with Dan Skelton switching tactics to target this race after the nine-year-old’s failure to defend his Betfair Chase crown in November.

He has since run in handicap company at Cheltenham and his handler is confident he has his Grade One scorer in peak condition as he searches for a slice of the £165,000 prize-fund.

“He’s in good form and we were always coming here after the December race,” said Skelton.

“He’s got a job on giving weight away to a few, but it’s a race we’ve always had in mind and I’m very happy with him.

“If it’s not happening, you have got to change and we’re changing up. The trip is no issue and I’m really looking forward to running him.”

Fergal O’Brien’s Highland Hunter and Sam Thomas’ Welsh Grand National winner Iwilldoit are both 11 now and will attempt to land a blow for the veterans, while Kim Bailey won the inaugural running of this race with Two For Gold and attempts to repeat the dose with Does He Know.

The field is rounded off by Gary Moore’s Full Back, who is a long way adrift of his rivals on ratings and returns from 434 days off the track.

Venetia Williams has confirmed L’Homme Presse is on track to make his eagerly-awaited return at Lingfield during the Winter Million Festival.

The Cheltenham Festival winner has been on the sidelines since unseating his big-race jockey Charlie Deutsch when booked for second place in the 2022 King George VI Chase, missing out on a return to Prestbury Park for a shot at the Gold Cup last spring.

L’Homme Presse is a general 16-1 chance for the blue riband this time around and his handler has the Fleur de Lys Chase on January 21 inked in as the race where the nine-year-old will be back from over a year off the track.

“He’s fine and Lingfield is the plan for the Fleur de Lys,” said Williams. “All being well, he is on course for that.”

Williams also has another talented chaser on her hands in the form of Djelo, who enhanced his growing reputation in Ascot’s Noel Novices’ Chase prior to Christmas.

The six-year-old won just one of his five starts for Williams over hurdles last term but has excelled since switching to fences and, after victories at Aintree and Newbury, took the step up to Grade Two company in his stride when an impressive six-length scorer over Paul Nicholls’ Kandoo Kid.

It was the first time the gelding had raced over further than two miles over the larger obstacles and his trainer is unconcerned about distance, as she assessed what her charge has done so far and what is possible in the future.

“I was very pleased with him and, like all these horses, it is one step at a time, but each question we’ve asked of him, he’s answered very positively,” said Williams.

“He’s a very different horse to L’Homme Presse, he’s much smaller and different, L’Homme Presse is a big wheel and this horse isn’t.

“I don’t think the trip is that important to him. For the time being, I’m not worried whether it is two or two and a half – I could have run him in the graduation chase (at Ascot) over two-miles-five.”

Pink Legend caused a minor surprise when beating odds-on favourite Galia Des Liteaux in the Make Your Best Bet At BetVictor Mares’ Chase at Newbury.

Trained by Venetia Williams, the nine-year-old put a disappointing display at Aintree on her seasonal return well behind her with a fine round of jumping under the excellent Charlie Deutsch.

She looked to face a tall task against Dan Skelton’s 2-5 favourite, a good winner at Market Rasen last time out, but Deutsch took the race by the scruff of the neck at halfway and dictated matters thereafter.

She was there to be shot at over the final two fences but two more accurate leaps meant both the favourite and Rose Of Arcadia could never quite get on terms, with Pink Legend winning by a length and three-quarters.

Winning owner-breeder Francis Mahon explained he had planned to be breeding from her by now, but the intervention of his trainer meant she stayed in training.

“She shouldn’t really be in training but it’s down to Venetia that she’s won another four races,” said Mahon.

“About 18 months ago I started to think she was a nice breeding prospect, she’d been second in the Mares’ Chase at Cheltenham (to Elimay) but Venetia said ‘why would you want to retire a horse who is running as well as she ever has?’.

“She got her way and since then she’s won four races and been placed again in the Mares’ Chase (third to Impervious). I think we might go for the Lady Protectress (at Huntingdon) next, she’s won that before, and then Cheltenham again.

“With Charlie now, every time he rides something I think he’s going to win, especially on a steeplechaser.

“She’s won over two miles so when it turned into a bit of a sprint, I thought we were always going to win and she never touched a twig.”

Mahon is hoping for a notable double as Pink Legend’s full sister Eleanor Bob runs in the Tommy Whittle Chase at Haydock on Saturday.

He told Racing TV: “On Saturday Eleanor Bob has a nice, low weight at Haydock and she’ll love the heavy ground, she’s a full sister to Pink Legend.”

Gidleigh Park enhanced his growing reputation with a stylish performance in the BetVictor EBF Stallions ‘National Hunt’ Novices’ Hurdle.

Harry Fry’s imposing five-year-old arrived in Berkshire having won a bumper and a novice hurdle and was sent off the evens favourite, despite facing some similarly promising individuals.

A little keen in the early stages, Johnny Burke was eager to keep a lid on his mount before the race began in earnest, but he was always travelling strongly and won by nine lengths from Fire Flyer.

Paddy Power cut the winner to 14-1 from 25s for the Ballymore at Cheltenham in March.

Fry said: “This was a step up in trip and Johnny said he was a little bit keen and landed flat footed at a couple down the backm but as the race developed he got better.

“He’s a lovely young horse going the right way. His form keeps working out well and all being well we’ll go to Cheltenham on Trials Day for the Grade Two novice hurdle there.

“This was just his second start (over hurdles). The Challow is in 10 days but I just felt we needed to take it one step at a time.”

Burke doubled up on Anthony Honeyball’s Park Princess (2-1 favourite) in the bumper.

Brave Kingdom (15-8) took his record under rules to five wins from just six outings with a battling display in the JM Finn Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase.

Trained by Paul Nicholls, he lost his unbeaten record in a Grade Two novice hurdle at Sandown in December 2021 and while he regained the winning thread back in calmer waters, was forced to miss the whole of last season through injury.

He reappeared with a win at Plumpton and followed up when seeing off Pulling Stumps by a length and three-quarters.

Winning rider Harry Cobden said: “I was always confident I’d get there because it’s very tiring ground and a very long straight.

“Horses like him that have had such a lay off can bounce on their second run, but he was relaxed today and I feel like this could be quite a smart horse, when I pulled him out he picked up nicely and there’s a nice handicap in him somewhere.”

Dan Skelton’s Etalon (3-1 joint-favourite) and Jonjo O’Neill’s Fortunate Man (9-1) were other impressive winners on the card.