Harry Skelton says all eyes remain on the Champion Hurdle for The New Lion, despite his crashing fall in the Fighting Fifth at Newcastle on Saturday.
Speaking to Matt Chapman and Paddy Brennan on the latest episode of Unbridled, the rider said: "I'm happier than I was on Saturday but I'm afraid in this game you don't walk out with your cheeks puffed out for too long. The wheels keep turning and the clocks keep ticking - it's all go."
Reflecting on the race, which saw his mount and favourite Constitution Hill fall at the same hurdle a circuit apart, Skelton commented: "It started off how I wanted it to. I wanted to be down the middle on my own getting that lead. It all changed after the second when Constitution Hill fell. I was left in front completely on my own - something he hasn't been before. I then had to take the race by the scruff of the neck a little bit.
"The first [obstacle] down the back caught him by surprise a little bit. I think it's about a mile from the last hurdle to the first down the back, so it's a long way with no hurdle and he probably switched off. The fence was right on the inside and you couldn't see the hurdle until you'd gone past the fence, it was just tucked away behind and caught him by surprise a little bit.
"Newcastle on good to soft is a serious emphasis on speed and I think that just caught us out. I'm not saying he wasn't fast enough but in his experience, he's never gone that fast down to some hurdles as he did down the straight there."
When asked if he felt confident of victory barring the fall, he said: "I felt I had a lot in my hands. When I turned into the straight I squeezed him along into the bridle a bit because I thought if I put a little bit of pressure on, that would keep his mind a bit concentrated. I felt I had an awful lot in my hands [for over the last], but sadly we didn't get that far. I feel that on the day I had a lot more to play, but unfortunately it wasn't to be."
Three jumps before parting company with his rider, The New Lion appeared to veer left - almost running out before regathering himself to jump the fourth from home.
Skelton recalled: "He did very marginally just go left. He does favour going a little that way and horses do favour going one way or the other - like if you're right-footed or left-footed. He was an absolute mile off the hurdle, maybe the horses were just coming into his eyesight at the second last which encouraged him to come up. Maybe he felt that little bit of pressure from behind and let fly at the hurdle? He's absolutely fine, we can go again and hopefully he learns from it."
With Matt Chapman assuming the Skeltons would never opt to front run with JP McManus' prodigy again, the 36-year-old replied: "I wouldn't say never. I think looking back at the race, I wish I'd gone harder. I was just mindful that there wasn't a hurdle for so long so I didn't want to be too forceful and set it up for those behind.
"I go out there with plan A and if that doesn't work you go to plan B, don't you? You have to be flexible. One thing I didn't want was Constitution Hill to get a complete freebie in his own time. It's a race over two miles, we stay strong. I wanted to be forward, right up there on the pace and what happened, happened. Thankfully everyone is alright but I didn't want to give him a complete freebie."
With attention switching to the future, the youngest Skelton brother was very bullish about the yard's aspirations for last term's Turners Novices' Hurdle winner. He said: "I promise you now, the one thing this horse isn't is slow. I've never won a Champion Hurdle but I've ridden Champion Hurdle horses and they've got to stay seriously well. He does that, he's got the gears to play over two miles, he stays strong and our minds are still set on having a crack at the Champion Hurdle."
In the immediate short-term, Skelton has plenty of nice chances this weekend - including aboard Be Aware in Sandown's Betfair Henry VIII Novices' Chase on Saturday.
Having opted to make the running when defeated by July Flower at Cheltenham last month, Skelton explained: "Fences give him a chance, Matt. He's a strong traveller. He can be keen but fences allow him to get a breather in and race better. They help him relax.
"You've always got horses snapping at your heels when you front run over hurdles while over fences if you jump well, they allow him to breathe better. It's a whole different ball game."
Previewing his mount's chances, Skelton commented: "I think it was a hell of a run the last day giving the mare the weight. He can definitely win it. I've got plenty of respect for the others in it, Alnilam has done nothing wrong - he stays and jumps well - there's plenty of ticks in his boxes.
"Lulamba, he's in for a very different test than he had first time at Exeter. He made his own way home up the straight and seems to be a very clean jumper, but it's going to be a very different test. There's no room for error."
Later on the card, the Lodge Hill team saddle L'Eau Du Sud against a familiar opponent in Jonbon, whom he defeated by 15 lengths in the Shloer Chase in November.
Comparing the two challengers to favourite Il Etait Temps, Skelton said: "I just think our horse jumps and travels - he likes to get on with things as well. I think Jonbon likes his own way a little bit and whether he was never quite going as well as he could - I don't know.
"It's going to be a very different game on Saturday. A lot happens in the first few fences - the ones that get in a good rhythm and get away are very hard to peg back. Jonbon made a mistake at Cheltenham and got stuck between the two horses, a place where he maybe doesn't enjoy being. Il Etait Temps will be really hard to beat."
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