Harry Skelton expecting even more from L’Eau Du Sud

The Dan Skelton-trained grey impressed at Cheltenham in November, on good ground, but was forced to show his ability on heavy ground at Sandown on Saturday.

Despite a slightly awkward leap at the last, he still finished ahead of Touch Me Not by three and three quarters lengths and is now the 6/1 second-favourite for the Arkle behind Ballyburn.

“We were absolutely delighted to win the Henry VIII with L’Eau Du Sud. To have that Grade One on his CV now is fantastic. He got the job done in very testing ground, and he had to really get stuck in – it was great to see him do that,” Harry Skelton told his Star Sports blog.

“He jumped great down the back and ground out a tough win. He had two horses behind him that had high ratings and he put them to bed fairly nicely, so it was a very encouraging run.

“I think you saw at Cheltenham, when he was visually really impressive, that he springs off a little bit better ground, so what this performance showed was that he can go in all conditions. He showed he can win when the going is tough and that’s what you need, a fighter.

“He’s three from three over fences, so we’ll now have a bit of a break and he’ll probably have one more run before he heads to the Arkle.”