The Joseph O'Brien-trained Solness will bid for a remarkable fourth top-level success at Leopardstown this weekend.
The eight-year-old lines up in Sunday's Ladbrokes Dublin Chase over two miles and one furlong, a race in which he beat this weekend's market leader Marine Nationale 12 months ago, and he does so on the back of another course and distance victory over the same rival in last month's Paddy's Rewards Club Chase.
Owner Neil Sands can scarcely believe the journey Solness has taken him in recent seasons but sees no reason to expect anything other than a typically brave display from his charge.
"We're very excited," Sands said on the Nick Luck Daily Podcast. "He's the king of Leopardstown, as a few people have named him at this stage. Three Grade 1s and he certainly likes it there, but the competition is as serious as ever. He's seemed to bump into these proper Grade 1 horses over the course of the past two years but has represented himself very well and his sectionals tell a very different story to what the press does.
"We've done a bit of analysis on the data of how he's finishing his races, and we think he's the most honest horse in racing. Everybody knows what we'll do before he steps foot on the track, he's aggressive and sets that pace out in front.
"But from the very first time he won a race in Leopardstown, which was almost three years ago now, he's not had a horse behind him (helping force the pace). He puts on a very aggressive pace on the front and he finishes his races out in the top 5% of finishes in Leopardstown, so he's an aggressive finisher too and we look forward to that again on Sunday.
"I think he's better on soft stuff than on heavy, but there's been three different jockeys on him now, Danny Mullins gave him a fantastic ride, Sam Ewing most recently stepped in for JJ (Slevin), and we have JJ back on Sunday, and they all seem to find a strip of ground that suits him.
"It's a longer race to go out wide but there's certainly been a lot of work done and fair play to all the team at Leopardstown. The ground will probably be on the testing side still, but we'll look to find that good ground nonetheless."
WATCH: Solness wins Paddy's Rewards Club Chase on December 27
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Solness is a 16/1 outsider for the Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham in March, having managed only fourth there last spring, but his owner is optimistic and feels there are reasons to expect a better outcome this time around.
"We looked at how he was a very busy horse when he got to Cheltenham last year, I think he'd had nine runs," said Sands. "This is only his second and it will only be his third if - please God - we get to Cheltenham with him, so it's a different prospect this year for Solness.
"He's a lot fresher going into this one. We certainly think we're competitive come March, but time will tell."
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