Skelton targets next year's Gold Cup with Protektorat Dan Skelton is looking forward to next season with Protektorat after he signed off his campaign with a tame effort in the Betway Bowl at Aintree. The seven-year-old was the 5-2 favourite for Thursday’s Grade One feature off the back of finishing third in the Cheltenham Gold Cup last month. But after travelling well for a long way, his effort petered out from the home turn and he was ultimately well beaten in fourth place. Skelton feels his stable star’s Cheltenham exertions had taken their toll and he will now be given a well-earned break before returning in the autumn. “He’s grand. We’ll obviously never do that (Cheltenham and Aintree) again, but you’ve got to try it,” said the trainer. “Cheltenham to Aintree — some handle it and some don’t. I’ve had a go at it, I’ll never do it again, but you’ve got to try. “We can’t change when this meeting is and you’ve either got to give it a go or you haven’t. “He’s come out of it fine and we’ll just plan to next year’s Gold Cup and hope we can be a competitor again.”
