Jockey Harry Cobden regains Politologue ride as Harry Skelton stands aside

Skelton steered the Paul Nicholls-trained grey to victory in both the Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham last season and the Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown in December.

However, Skelton is set to have a clash of interests when it comes to this year’s Champion Chase in March. He is stable jockey to his brother Dan and they have a leading contender in Nube Negra, who defeated Altior in the Desert Orchid Chase at Kempton last month.

The Skeltons, and their father, Olympic showjumper Nick, are long-standing friends of Politologue’s owner John Hales. They are believed to have discussed the matter, resulting in Skelton giving up the ride.

Nicholls confirmed Cobden will be back in the plate for Politologue’s last race before he defends his Champion Chase crown.

Cobden has ridden Politologue six times, winning the Tingle Creek in 2017 and finishing second to Altior in the Champion Chase in 2019.

Politologue is the 5-4 favourite with Coral for the Ascot feature, ahead of King George third Waiting Patiently, trained by Ruth Jefferson at Malton, and priced at 5-2.

Coral’s David Stevens said: “Politologue gave Harry Skelton his biggest win when the pair won last season’s Queen Mother Champion Chase, but it will be Harry Cobden on board the grey this weekend and at the Cheltenham Festival, although Harry Skelton still has a chance of winning the race again this March, with Nube Negra one of the leading contenders at 10-1.”

Meanwhile, Harriet Graham’s Ladbrokes Trophy runner-up Aye Right is the headline act at Newcastle today.

The Gosforth Park venue was scheduled to stage a National Hunt card, but the meeting was called off in the middle of last week as the track was unraceable with little prospect of improvement.

That fixture has been replaced with a ‘jumpers’ bumpers’ card and for a horse like Aye Right, who is trained in the Scottish Borders, it has come at just the right time.

He lines up in the QuinnBet Casino “Jumpers’ Bumper” National Hunt Flat Race over an extended two miles.

“We’ve obviously been stopped a bit by the weather over the last three or four weeks and we thought it would be a good, strong bit of work for him,” said Graham.

“We just think it’s a good opportunity to take him and it’s a big thanks to the British Horseracing Authority as originally his race wasn’t there and he didn’t qualify for any of the others.

“It will be a strange race, there’s all sorts of different types – Jimmy’s (Moffatt) horse (Golden Town) even ran in Kingman’s Greenham back in the day.

“We’re aiming him at the Sky Bet Chase at Doncaster, but the way the forecast is and because we won’t be running him on heavy ground, we’ve just got to take the opportunities when they are there.”

Following the postponement of Fakenham’s meeting yesterday, due to a waterlogged track, today’s meeting at Chepstow is subject to a precautionary inspection this morning at 7.30am due to the threat of rain.

The meeting at Leicester next Tuesday, January 26, has already been abandoned due to waterlogging.

It is unusual for a fixture to be called off at more than 72 hours notice, but with the support of a BHA course inspector the decision was ratified.

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