Dan Skelton hits new milestone in bid to win his first Trainers’ Championship title

Dan Skelton has become the first National-Hunt trainer in Britain to collect more than £4million prize money in a single season. 

The Englishman leads the British Trainers’ Championship by around two million pounds, as he looks to win his first Trainers’ Championship title. 

Skelton told Sky Sports Racing: “I love doing this job and to do something like that is pretty special.”

The 39-year-old has enjoyed a campaign that has seen him train 168 winners, including two at the 2026 Cheltenham Festival.

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Milestone

On achieving the milestone, Skelton said: “I set aspirational targets, sometimes we meet them and sometimes we don’t, but I think things like that [£4m] gives us all a bit of a focus. 

“I get to do it for these people, the staff, the owners, supporters and everyone else and they motivate me. 

“I’m only the name that goes on it, I’ve a part to play, but not the biggest part by any stretch, that’s shared.”

"What do we have to do to beat this Mullins fella?" 😆@LeglockLuke caught up with @DSkeltonRacing after becoming the first jumps trainer to break the £4 million mark… pic.twitter.com/M9kBCQwQPM

— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) March 21, 2026

Mullins pipped Skelton

Last season saw the Trainers’ Championship go down to the final day, where a treble on Sandown’s Celebration Chase day saw Irishman Willie Mullins become British Champion Trainer for the second time. 

He edged Skelton, who had led the Trainers’ Championship by over £1m prior to the Grand National, but had his lead cut down to only £68,000 going into the final day. 

Skelton alluded to last year’s disappointment and joked: “At the start of the year, we thought ‘what do we have to do to beat this Mullins fella?’ and that number felt like it was possibly sufficient, but you never know with him.

He added: “It makes you reach and it makes you push harder.

“When you get somewhere near the top, you have to be an independent thinker, a unique thinker. 

“You have to do something different, because when you are chasing, you’re thinking how you can fill the gap.

“When you’re the one that’s getting chased or the equal, you’re thinking about how you stretch, and that’s really hard.

“We saw last year tactically what we had to do differently, but then you have to push again with a different mindset. 

“You set a new target, set a new thing, move on to new ground and you always have to keep looking forward and break new ground – that’s what motivates me.” 

Skelton leads Nicky Henderson in the Trainers’ Championship standings, with Mullins in third, before Paul Nicholls, Olly Murphy and Ben Pauling complete the top six. 

There is just over four weeks left of the 2025/26 National Hunt season, which will see the 2026 Grand National take place on Saturday, April 11.

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