Saturday double for Le Milos and Saint Palais

Posted February 10, 2025

It was fantastic to see two old friends rolling back the years on Saturday, with Le Milos scoring for the first time since his 2022 Coral (Hennessy in old money!) Gold Cup success, and Saint Palais getting back to winning ways on his second start back from a long absence due to injury.

Le Milos (pictured, after arriving in the UK as a three year old) was running in veterans company for the first time and he looked to really enjoy himself at Warwick, jumping fluently, travelling strongly and quickening clear to win with plenty to spare. Congratulations to trainer Dan Skelton and owners The Jolly Good Partnership – hopefully this win will prove the catalyst for an exciting spring ahead, with a handicap chase at Aintree a possibility.

Saint Palais was a very smart novice chaser a couple of seasons ago, winning the Mandarin at Newbury as a four year old, but he sustained an injury in the 2023 Albert Bartlett at the Cheltenham Festival that kept him off the track for the best part of two years.

It shows the ability and strength of character of Saint Palais that he made it back to the track, let alone winning over hurdles at Uttoxeter yesterday. It was also a fine advert for the training skills of Richard Bandey, who has had a very tough season, but has done tremendously well to get Saint Palais back on the racecourse. Many congratulations to all involved.

Aintree, Coral Gold Cup, Dan Skelton, French bloodstock, Le Milos, Richard Bandey, Saint Palais

Nathaniel Barnett

With over 350 winners to date, Nathaniel has a proven record of success under both codes. Nathaniel specialises in finding young, unexposed National Hunt and Flat horses in France to suit all budgets, focusing on achieving the best results and outstanding value for his clients.