DAN'S GRAND BID DAWNING

Paul Ferguson tracks a route for Skeltons from Carlisle to Aintree

- Paul Ferguson

The National Hunt season steps up again in November and on the first Sunday of the month Carlisle stages the Colin Parker Memorial Intermediate Chase, a race which is often a springboard into open company for a high-quality second-season chaser.

It is possible that Dan Skelton sends Grey Dawning north ahead of his Betfair Chase bid some three weeks later but he tends to need his first run of the season and this could also be where we see Iroko make his return, on the back of an encouraging and interrupted - first season over fences.

Hugely impressive at Warwick last November, the 6yo was then sidelined until the Cheltenham Festival, where he didn't run too badly at all given that limited experience.

He stepped up on that to finish a good second over 3m1f in the Mildmay Novices' Chase at Aintree - where he had placed in the Sefton Novices' Hurdle 12 months earlier - and remains a bright prospect for open company. In fact, given his record around Aintree, I suspect that his connections have already got one eye on the Grand National in the spring and I will be fascinated to see how he fares during the first half of the season.

Another option for the Oliver Greenall and Josh Guerriero-trained son of Cokoriko would be the graduation chase at Hadyock on November 23, a race won by Grey Dawning last year, and Iroko would still be eligible for it, even if coming out and winning at Carlisle. Although he looks to be a stayer in the making and saw the trip out well at Aintree, he isn't short of pace so should be competitive over an intermediate trip during the early part of this season.