'We were kids and it was out of our control. But we got on with it'

The big interview Harry Skelton Jockey and brother of likely champion trainer Dan talks about past trauma, his hopes for Cheltenham and dealing with high expectations

- Donald McRae

“There were some times that were very rough,” Harry Skelton says calmly as he remembers a defining period of his life when, as boys, he and his brother Dan found a way to cope with the slow death of their mother from alcoholism. “A lot of families have gone through worse but it was, at times, really hard and it was evident what was going on.”

At their sunlit yard near Stratford-upon-Avon, the Skelton brothers are deep in preparation for the Cheltenham festival this week. Last year Harry rode four winners, which were all trained by Dan, and their prospects for more success over the coming days are high. Dan looks likely to end the season as champion trainer while Harry is second in the jump-jockey standings and on course to win the inaugural David Power Jockeys’ Cup which, using a points-based system for races televised on ITV, awards the leading rider £500,000.

So there is neither anger nor bitterness when Skelton addresses a distant trauma. Instead, he is reflective and perceptive as he charts how he and his brother found light amid the gathering darkness of their mother’s illness. “We were just kids and it was out of our control. But we got on with it and we had ponies and chickens and entertained ourselves. I think that’s why me and Dan are so close, he’s always been there for me. He’s four-and-a-half years older and he’s supplied me with a fantastic career and made me what I am today.”