Dan Skelton Cheltenham Festival 2025 day four blog

After a tremendous three days of horse racing, Dan Skelton shares his final blog with Ladbrokes for the festival, previewing his three runners on day four of Cheltenham.

We run Valgrand in the County Hurdle, and it's a race we've had in mind for some time. Obviously, we've not run him this calendar year, but he was very good at Cheltenham in October, and then got put in his place in November over an extended trip.

He's been carrying around top weight on bad ground which hasn't suited him in two starts since, but this is definitely better ground for him on Friday, and you could make a case for him.

It's a very competitive race this year, but I feel like he goes there showing all the right signs.

We've got two running in the Conditional Jockeys', Nurse Susan - who is a very high-quality mare and I feel like I've nearly got her right there, but the last little bit will be taken on trust.

She's had a lot of time off, but I feel like I've done as much as I can, and hopefully it's enough. She carries some good back form into this though, and she's a high-quality mare who has hopefully got an each-way chance here.

Doyen Quest won around the track back in the autumn over three miles, but I'm not actually convinced he's been staying over three miles since. I've put a pair of cheekpieces on to sharpen him up - and he's obviously effective at the track.

If he was on a going day, he doesn't look badly handicapped, so he'd have to have an each-way squeak as well. He is a bit of a monkey, though, and we're taking him on trust a little bit as well.

Before we can even get to day four, Ladbrokes shares its day three tips for Cheltenham Festival 2025, with each-way and outright winner picks for each of the races,

For those interested, Ladbrokes has an 'everything you need to know' piece ahead of Cheltenham, as well as a beginner's guide to betting at the festival.

View the latest Cheltenham Festival odds

All odds and markets are correct as of the date of publication.