Paul Nicholls is aware of the task facing Kempton Park specialist Rubaud as he looks to spring a surprise and bag Grade One glory in the Ladbrokes Christmas Hurdle.
The Ditcheat master intends to step the consistent seven-year-old back up to the top table for a tilt at the £130,000 contest in which he finished second two years ago.
Although the son of Air Chief Marshal, who has won five of his nine previous starts around the Sunbury venue, only scrambled home to secure a third straight success in the Grade Two Elite Hurdle at Wincanton last month, Nicholls reports him to be back to his best.
Nicholls said of the challenge ahead of Rubaud on Friday: “There is no Lossiemouth coming over and there is no Constitution Hill.
“Obviously, Nicky’s horse Sir Gino is coming back, but I presume they will use that as a stepping-stone for something else.
"He (Rubaud) is in good form this season and he has had a lovely break since he ran at Wincanton the last day.
“He was nowhere near his best when he ran at Wincanton the other day, but he is back to where he was before his first run at Kempton Park.
“He runs really well in those Grade Twos, but this is a tough test for him, however he loves Kempton Park and there is a drying forecast. If he won a Grade One it would be massive.”
And while Nicholls will be without a runner in this year’s Ladbrokes King George VI Chase, which he has won a record 13 times, he will also bid for Grade One glory in the Ladbrokes Kauto Star Novices’ Chase with Blueking D’Oroux.
After suffering an odds-on reversal on his chasing debut at Newton Abbot, the six-year-old made no mistake on his second start over fences with victory in the Grade Two Rising Stars Novices’ Chase at Wincanton.
Nicholls said: “The plan is to run Blueking D’Oroux in the Kauto Star. It might be quite hot, but there aren’t many other options for him.
“I had entered him in the Noel at Ascot on Friday, but he had a seven-pound penalty and two miles and three furlongs around there would have been sharp enough.
“I would have rather run Regent’s Stroll in that, something has a bit of pace. Blueking D’Oroux gallops all day and wants three miles.
“We just thought there will probably be only four or five runners so let's go there. He will have to improve if the better ones run.
“Three miles around a flat track on better ground will suit him well.”
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