Protektorat was also cut to 5-1 from 12-1 for the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day. He came out a wide-margin winner from the staying-on Eldorado Allen (17-2). Skelton and Proktektorat went to lead and had his rivals struggling. Nigel Twiston-Davies' three-time Betfair Chase hero, the veteran Bristol De Mai, led the field along for much of the way but as the five runners made the turn for home Harry Skelton moved Protektorat through stylishly to challenge. The pair will no doubt meet again back at Prestbury Park in March, where Protektorat is now around a 7-1 for Gold Cup glory, with A Plus Tard out to 12-1 with bet365 to retain his crown. But A Plus Tard's disappointment – where he was pulled up before the third last fence by Rachael Blackmore – shouldn't take away from a stunning display of jumping and potent finishing kick from the ever-improving Protektorat.

And he turned around the form from the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup at the Cheltenham Festival in March, when he was just over 17 lengths behind A Plus Tard in third. Protektorat landed a first victory at the top level since his Manifesto Novices' Chase success at the Randox Grand National Festival at Aintree Racecourse in April 2021. While Henry De Bromhead’s Cheltenham Gold Cup hero and last year's Betfair Chase winner A Plus Tard failed to fire and was pulled up, Skelton's progressive eight-year-old chaser – under the trainer's brother Harry Skelton – grabbed the biggest victory for all three when scoring an impressive success in the Grade One feature on Merseyside. Trainer Dan Skelton hailed 'personal bests' as Protektorat (15-2) scored a superb 11-length victory in the Betfair Chase in fine style at Haydock Park.

World of final fantasy trainer