The brother of likely champion trainer Dan on staying grounded and his hopes for this year’s festival

“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 this week’s Cheltenham festival. 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 a staggering £500,000.