- This topic has 19 replies, 11 voices, and was last updated 3 years, 3 months ago by
.
- Posts
When Allmankind rapidly turned it in as a 33-1 topweight at Chepstow the other day, he completed his SIXTH consecutive race finishing stone last. What on earth has happened?
He was an absolute star novice chaser in 20/21, with wins in the Kingmaker at Warwick & the Future Champions’ at Ayr either side of a good run in the Arkle. People were talking about Champion Chases and King Georges to come and he subsequently returned to win the Old Roan Chase in October. However, since then his decline has been so precipitous it’s almost ridiculous.
The RP noted he had wind surgery before the 21/22 season, so that does hint at some underlying problem -although he’d run perfectly well before and after the operation. Any ideas??
Mike
I’m glad someone else has commented on this betlarge as I have been wondering much the same. I’ve seen very little mentioned about his decline in the media, and nothing of substance re possible causes.
I really do hope they get to the bottom of things, but don’t recall many horses coming back from such a severe loss of form.
I’m completely in he dark Betlarge, and so it seems is everyone who
is out of the Skelton loop. On the Quotes section at the top of his
race record, Skelton gives quotes on Allmankind on his good days, but
not a dickybird since his superb win in the Old Rone Chase
back in October 21. Of course he’s not bound to give any explanation
but having commented on all his good days, would it be such am
inconvenience to give the racing public some form of explanation, even
if it were that they can’t fathom it out. It’s not a lot to ask for the
sake of the people who back his horses day in day out. It seems to be a
closed book.I asked what’s happened to him on the Skelton thread , someone said there,s a plan in progress …. handp at chelt perhaps
Pick 3 on Saturday champion 2025/2026
He,’ll come back , look at Cue Cards lost season
Pick 3 on Saturday champion 2025/2026
Do any of Skelton’s ‘come back’?
Have never been able to figure him out. I gave up on all of his runners a couple of years ago, mostly because Harry rides some cracking races, but seems to have a series of combining brainfarts in others, often the bigger races. Shan Blue in the 2021 Charlie Hall is a case in point – driven into a high pressure jump for zero reason. I strongly suspect the horse remembered that only too well the other day when he didn’t go a yard back at the track.
Allmankind has started fav 10 times and won 7 of those: his two other victories were as 2nd fav. They seem, above all else, a gambling yard. Do outfits like that ever make it to the very top?
Does he look to you like there is any kind of problem
when he jumps Joe. I know you are good at spotting these
things, or has his enthusiasm for the game just gone ?The sire only ran 5 times
Allmankind is the only horse from the sire to win at graded level over jumps (included French based horses)
Its likely he’s past his peak and downgrading/regressingWonderful horse in full flight though so hope he can get it back but I have my doubts
Gaelic Warrior Gold Cup Winner 2026
Hi Graham,
He looks okay physically. He always takes a keen hold, and perhaps big fields in particular might light him up. 5 of his 9 wins have been in fields of 5 or fewer. He’s won once in a double figure field – 10 runners. He’s 3 from 3 at Warwick. His mark has slipped 10lbs in 14 months. Whatever is ailing will, I think, be cured by that oldest of horse racing medicines, a heavy poultice of cash, very probably in a small field, and possibly at Warwick.
I’d say it’s nothing more than a very hard race when he won the Old Roan, which has left a mark – and also pushed him into G1 and G2 races that even at his best, he’d have struggled to win.
At Aintree, that win was achieved in a time faster than standard and he was given five serious smacks between the last two fences, and four more after the last.
Skelton seems to be searching for answers – at Aintree he wore a hood and a tongue tie. The hood was dropped two races later, the tongue tie was off at Chepstow. They’ve tried holding him up instead of making the running, they’ve tried hurdles, they’ve tried the flat.
I certainly don’t think betting or plotting a coup has anything to do with it – it’s not exactly the way Bill Gredley operates and Skelton seems to me to be far more motivated by numbers of winners and total prize money, than spending two years trying to organise a win in a Warwick handicap.
That’s probably bang on, Alan. I recalled him having a hard race in the Arkle, but he bounced back from that a month later in Scotland. After that Ayr win, the Old Roan’s been the only time he’s run within a stone of his best. The type to take a lot out of himself, anyway, maybe they went to the well once too often. If he carries on in this vein, perhaps worth picking up at the sales for two bob and sending to Sandy Thomson.
For a different reason, I was looking at Long Run the other day. He had a desperately hard race winning the King George, but ran well in his final two races of that season. But that was him essentially done, at the age of 8.
Apracing his does like laying horses out for hcaps at Cheltenham
Pick 3 on Saturday champion 2025/2026
I don’t know why people are so obsessed with Sandy Thomson. Looking at his overall stats you’ll find out they’re rather mediocre, but he still deserves respect as he doesn’t get the quality of horses others do.
A 15% strike rate in chases is nothing spectacular, but I guess it’s the profit that makes him very interesting. I admit that I like following him and also backing his horses at decent prices (I wasn’t on Yorkhill, though), but his big-race successes aren’t that impressive either. Besides the above mentioned Eider Chase win, he has also won two Rendlesham Hurdles, a Dipper Chase and a Colin Parker Memorial. Most of them with just one horse……
If the Gredley family wants a change of scenery for Allmankind they would have other trainers to choose from.
Dan Skelton likes preparing gambles for the Festival, but apparently only over hurdles.
Just looking back to his novice chase season, Allmankind ran six times which is quite a lot for a modern high-class novice. However, he did not appear to have many hard races among these.
I agree the Old Roan was a harder race though, and perhaps it has left a mental or physical mark. His recent career trajectory reminds me a little of Defi Du Seuil. He too shone brightly at a young age, but his racing career was in terminal decline by the age of 7. I hope a better fate awaits Allmankind.
Marlingford, Defi Du Seuil had something wrong with his back – of that I am sure, even though nothing was reported. You just need to watch how he tried to jump fences; a painful sight. Oddly, as with Shishkin, The Clarence House was the last race in which he showed his form, though he seemed to have nothing like as hard a race. But it was heavy ground. Who knows?
Have a look at him jump the last 2 at Ascot that day then watch him try to bend his back with anywhere near that degree of flex in his subsequent races.
Quite a few Dan Skelton horses end up running in Point-to-Points, trained by Nick Pearce, his head lad.
Debece and Azzuri are entered at Horseheath tomorrow.
They are usually ridden by promising young Point riders just starting out – Murray Dodd, Aidan Weaver and Heidi Palin are recent examples.
Pearce and, by extension, Skelton thus have a good reputation for bringing young riders through in a sphere which annually produces promising professional prospects, Freddie Gingell and Beau Morgan being two topical West Country examples.
I am "The Horse Racing Punter" on Facebook
https://mobile.twitter.com/Ian_Davies_
https://www.facebook.com/ThePointtoPointNHandFlatracingpunter/
It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.